Los Angeles, CA — On the evening of May 25, 2015, A. Cruces, 24, was driving home to Pomona when he decided to stop for some dinner with his friend. Cruces pulled into an El Polo Loco parking lot around 8:00pm. He walked into the restaurant, leaving his friend, J. Ramirez, in the car. While Cruces was inside, Ramirez ran over to a nearby dumpster to urinate. A uniformed officer sitting in his police car witnessed Ramirez’ behavior and contacted him. Ramirez apologized, and said he just “really had to go.”
Cruces saw the officer speaking with his friend, and walked outside to mitigate the situation. Cruces apologized for his friend’s behavior and assured the officer he was the designated driver. Cruces was subsequently questioned by the officer. Cruces was cooperative, and explained to the officer he has only consumed one beer over an hour before.
The arresting officer insisted he smelled the scent of alcohol and asked Cruces to complete a Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS). Cruces willfully cooperated and the PAS detected the presence of alcohol.
Cruces was then transported, per his request, to San Dimas Hospital to complete a blood test. The blood test revealed Cruces’ Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) was over the legal limit. Cruces was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI).
Cruces retained Jorgensen & Salberg, LLP to represent him against the aforementioned allegation.
Attorney Jeff Salberg negotiated with the District Attorney and was able to obtain a “wet reckless” for the defendant. A wet reckless plea arrangement means the defendant pleads to driving recklessly with alcohol involved. A charge of wet reckless typically carries fewer obligations, punishments, and costs than a traditional DUI.
Prior to the incident, Cruces had zero accidents or traffic violations on his DMV record.
