KGET reports that a man has been sentenced to two years in prison for a DUI crash that left two CHP officers injured.
On Tuesday, Juan Manuel Moreno was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of driving under the influence causing injury. He pleaded no contest to the charges in January. Two other felony charges were dropped as a part of the plea agreement.
The charges stem from a May 11, 2019 accident where Moreno ran a red light on Cottonwood Road. He hit a CHP police car, causing two officers minor to moderate injuries.
He continued to drive south and eventually hit a chain-link fence. He then headed west on Feliz Drive. A trail of fluid that was leaking from the vehicle led officers to a dirt driveway on Feliz Drive where they found Moreno.
Moreno admitted to officers to realizing he had hit someone. According to court documents, Feliz said, “I just didn’t stop.”
When he was taken back to the crash scene, Moreno laughed and cursed at the officers, “I don’t give a (expletive), you guys are (expletive).”
When pulled over for DUI, it is important that drivers know how to act to avoid implicating themselves. Here are a few tips about how to behave when pulled over for a possible DUI:
- Never lie to the police officers. If they ask if you’ve been drinking, do not say you have or have not been drinking.
- You can politely decline to answer the question. The key is to be polite.
- Do not antagonize the officer and do not be disrespectful.
- You may decline the roadside breathalyzer test, but not the test at the police station. You can even decline to take a field sobriety test.
Moreno’s case being a possible exception, many people who are stopped for a DUI aren’t even aware that they have broken a law before police pull them over. Drivers are sometimes unaware because they simply don’t realize that they are intoxicated: they can’t feel the difference.
