24 Dec 2013
The title of the article is Driver Allegedly Chugged Cologne During Fayette County Traffic Stop, but we’re still trying to piece together exactly what happened. Here’s what we have been able to ascertain from the written report.
This past Wednesday morning, deputies from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office say that they noticed a man driving erratically on Texas 71. A K-9 unit on the scene was alerted to the possible presence of drugs, and the officers claim that there were open containers of alcohol in the vehicle. And that’s where the story begins to get just a bit fuzzy.
While the drugs in question are described as prescription medication (Xanax), there is no description of the open containers of alcohol. And while the article says that the cologne was chugged to mask the smell of alcohol, another report on the same incident says that empty cologne bottles were found in the vehicle. That got us thinking that perhaps the open containers of alcohol actually included the cologne bottles. One way or another, it is alleged that the driver drank an awful lot of cologne, which presumably contained alcohol (most of them do), although there is no indication that he was drunk, or (surprisingly) that he got sick from the cocktails.
In case you were wondering, it is possible to be cited for DWI based upon drinking cologne, or similar substances, that contain alcohol. If, as a result of consuming the substance, you become intoxicated (not having use of your normal mental or physical facilities) and/or have an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, then you may find yourself defending a charge of driving while intoxicated.
While there is no report, at least as of the present time, that the driver in the Fayette County case was cited for DWI, police say he was also involved in a hit-and-run accident in Travis County prior to being stopped in Fayette County, and that additional charges are possible.
We’ll have to wait to see how this case develops, but we won’t be surprised if additional charges are filed, and we suspect that one of them may include DWI.
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