New details on Seattle DUI arrest of Seahawk football player

New details have surfaced on the Seattle DUI arrest of a Seahawk football player. Now I’m not going to name this specific player. As of today he hasn’t been charged. If you’re that curious you can just google it yourself. And for those Seahawk fans don’t worry its not a major contributor to the team. But some details have surfaced regarding his DUI arrest in Seattle and it should make any reader of this blog very concerned. I know as a DUI Attorney that happens to practice in Seattle it makes me very concerned….

Let me preface this by saying the concern over whether his ability to drive was affected by alcohol is not for me to decide and I’m not hear to pass judgement over his decision. Heck he hasn’t even been charged with anything, and its not like he caused an accident. What concerns me is this DUI stop was put in motion by a 911 caller who followed the football player and gave a play by play to the 911 dispatcher. Ultimately leading police to the football player who made the DUI arrest.

Now perhaps I’m in the minority here. But I can’t help but be concerned by these people who feel compelled to call 911 on people they “think” are DUI. Like I said this was not a situation where the football player was driving recklessly or egregiously. He didn’t cause an accident or cause any other vehicles to take evasive maneuvers to avoid an accident. This was just some person that I’m willing to be has no idea what the law is. Saw a vehicle weave and decided it was their duty to call 911 and report a drunk driver.

I have had several former clients in the past involved with similar facts. And each time the client was under the legal limit. They were either fiddling with their radio, on their cell phone, or messing with their GPS system when the 911 caller mistakenly took that for driving drunk. Each time despite being under the legal limit the former client was arrested, charged with DUI, and had to hire a DUI lawyer to help them out.

And each time the 911 caller was some idiot who had done that sort of thing in the past and felt like it was their duty to continue to do it. Imagine how many people get stopped for a DUI just because they are reported to 911 by a citizen caller. Imagine getting detained, questioned, going through the field sobriety tests, maybe even arrested based on having very little if anything to drink. All because someone was out playing cop. Its increasingly frustrating to know that even if you have very little to drink and choose to lawfully drive. Not only are you facing a DUI arrest from a police officer, but also from a citizen 911 caller who has no training whatsoever and just decides to call 911 based on a “hunch.”

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI lawyer in the Seattle Bellevue area of Western WA. He has been named a Rising Star by his peers in the field of DUI defense according to Seattle Met Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive. Additionally he is rated as a 10/10 by Avvo.com among Seattle DUI lawyers.