Crime & Safety

Vietnam Vet Arrested for DUI: 'Can't You Give Me a Break?'

Inside Police Reports: A closer look at Gwinnett PD incident reports in the area.

A motorcyclist who was arrested for DUI last week on Athens Highway became agitated because police weren’t going to cut him a break.

According to the police incident report, the man was driving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle westbound on U.S. 78 when he stopped at the traffic light at Summit Chase Road in the left lane. When the light changed, he accelerated and continued straight ahead, prompting the officer to stop him near Emerson Lake Drive.

The officer wrote the man smelled of alcohol despite the man saying he had nothing to drink (he then admitted to having two drinks at dinner).

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“Can’t you give me a break?” the man asked several times, saying he was a Vietnam vet, 67 years old and close to home.

But, based on field and breath sobriety tests, the man was arrested for DUI (more than .08% alcohol in blood).

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After the arrest, the man became “very disrespectful,” the officer wrote in the report.

“He berated me, Gwinnett County citizens and the Gwinnett County Police Department,” the officer wrote. “He stated that because he is 67-years-old and a Vietnam vet I should give him a break.”

The man settled down before reaching the county jail, apologizing to the officer and saying he respected that the officer was just doing his job.

“I thanked him,” the officer wrote.


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