Driving at night can easily be disorienting. Even when another vehicle is brightly lit, it may be difficult for other drivers to determine the vehicle’s exact position, for example. Despite this, police in Minnesota believe that a driver that struck a police sports utility vehicle was drunk driving.
The incident happened during the early morning hours of a day in mid-November. According to reports, a disabled vehicle was parked in the left turn lane of a Minnesota highway. A police officer was reportedly stopped behind the disabled vehicle as protection.
Unfortunately, a representative for the police department claims that a vehicle driven by a 22-year-old male struck the left rear of the SUV. The officer inside the latter was reportedly buckled and only suffered minor injuries; he was reportedly able to steer the SUV to avoid the people working on the disabled vehicle. The driver that police say may have been under the influence of alcohol remained incarcerated following the incident, awaiting criminal charges.
Car accidents can happen for a variety of different reasons, especially during the early morning hours. Reasons can include driver fatigue or distraction. However, law enforcement officials may be quick to assume that an accident that happens during the early morning hours was caused by drunk driving, even if there is no other evidence to support this claim. For someone to be convicted of a crime, however, there must be sufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. An experienced criminal defense attorney can help defendants sort through the evidence against them and create the appropriate response to the charges that they face.
