A routine traffic stop turned violent for Officer Jason Deaton of Middletown, Ohio. Deaton pulled over 45-year old Eric German, moments after he had fled the scene of an accident. German, a private security guard, became irate and attacked.

Backup arrived quickly and German was taken into custody. He now faces several charges, including assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, obstructing official business, failure to drive in marked lanes and fleeing the scene of an accident.

It may be a funny video, but Virginia does not take traffic crimes lightly. If you have been cited with a serious traffic offense, contact the Parrish Law Firm for a free initial consultation.

Last weekend’s blitz yielded 8,289 arrests and summonses, all along I-95 and I-81. 3,313 speeding tickets, 628 reckless driving citations, 12 DUIs, 15 drug/felony arrests, and 248 seat belt violations were issued over the two-day period.

“Unfortunately, there are still too many motorists who choose to speed, drive carelessly or drive impaired—all factors that cause crashes,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent.

The comprehensive enforcement project utilized troopers, supervisors, motorcycle units, motor carrier teams and aviation units. Funds generated from summonses issued by state police during this campaign went towards paying court fees and the state’s Literary Fund.

If you have been charged with DUI, Reckless Driving, or any other serious traffic citation, please do not hesitate to contact the Parrish Law Firm for a free initial consultation.

Police reported that the effort resulted in 1,141 total summonses/arrests for both states.

Nine drivers were cited for reckless driving, and 68 speeding tickets were issued.

684 of those violating HOV regulations were first-time offenders. 25 were second-time offenders, 3 third-timers, and one fourth (we don’t even want to know how much his ticket is).

If you have been charged with reckless driving, or another serious traffic charge, be sure to consider the ramifications this arrest could have on your insurance, license, and future. Contact the Parrish Law Firm today for a free initial consultation.

According to Prince William County Police, Jose Portillio was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence on June 3rd, and three $100.00 counterfeit bills were found in his car.

When questioned, Portillio said he got the bills from Ronald Virto. The officer then contacted the US Secret Service, and they informed him the serial number on the bills was linked to 125 other open cases.

When police searched Ronald Virto’s Manassas home, they found 59 other bills with the same serial number.

While police were still in the home, Virto arrived intoxicated. He was also arrested for a DUI at that point.

Virto is currently being held without bond on charges of Possession of Fictitious Bank Notes, Passing of Fictitious Bank Notes, His 4th DUI in 10 years, Driving on Revoked License (second or subsequent offense), and DUI Refusal 3rd or Subsequent Offense.

DUI count so far: 5.
Counterfeit bill count so far: 62.

While counterfeiting is a serious enough charge to get the Secret Service involved, DUIs and Driving on a Revoked or Suspended License are also very serious criminal charges in the state of Virginia.

The Bullrun Live Rally describes itself a “high-end luxury lifestyle automotive rally.” With a $20,000 entrance fee, the race starts in New York City and ends in Los Vegas.

While participants say many of the participating cars are equipped with radar detectors or police scanners, that doesn’t stop them from being stopped.

Frontrunner Nicholas Steinman was arrested for reckless driving in his 2010 BMW M3 Wednesday as the race passed through Colorado. He was reportedly traveling 105 mph in a 65 mph zone.

Several other race participants have been ticketed and charged with Reckless Driving, as well as other offenses through the course of the race. As these offenses happened in several states along the way, punishments varied—while some offenders were arrested and taken to jail, others were simply ticketed and allowed to continue.

In Virginia, Reckless Driving is a criminal offense. There’s an additional section of the Code that focusing on racing, as well. If convicted of reckless driving under this section, a person’s drivers license is suspended for at least six months ( and up to two years)!

If you or someone you know have been charged with reckless driving by speeding or racing in Virginia, keep in mind that this is a very serious offense. You should consult with an experienced attorney. Contact the Parrish Law Firm for a free initial consultation, and to discuss your options.

Just because you’re driving on the water instead of pavement doesn’t mean the rules are any more lax. In fact, Virginia is stepping up its efforts to enforce Operating Under the Influence laws with Operation Dry Water.

Police officers with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries will be patrolling the waters looking for boat operators with a BAC of .08 or above. As always, there is a zero-tolerance policy for anyone under 21 years of age. Virginia looks at Boating While Intoxicated or Operating Under the Influence much the same way it looks at Driving Under the Influence. If charged, you will be arrested, and Virginia’s waterways have Implied Consent just as the roadways do—you are still subject to field and chemical sobriety tests.

And, as always, operator licensing applies. Check the Department of Game & Inland Fisheries website for more information.

Individuals in Pennsylvania can only purchase alcohol in state-owned stores; private, licensed convenience stores can sell up to two six-packs of beer per customer.

Until now. The state has opened some kiosks in private supermarkets, including these automatic wine dispensers.

About the size of four large refrigerators, these machines keep the wines at room temperature. Consumers select a wine from a touch screen, swipe their ID, blow into an alcohol sensor, and look into a surveillance camera. A state employee in Harrisburg remotely verifies their identity and that the consumer isn’t drunk.

According to state officials, the process takes about 20 seconds.

While some consumers appreciate the convenience, many wine aficionados consider the process to be a little on the invasive side.

“The process is cumbersome and assumes the worst in Pennsylvania’s wine consumers—that we are a bunch of conniving underage drunks,” Keith Wallace, president and founder of The Wine School of Philadelphia wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press.

Big Brother worries aside, you have to wonder how effective carding buyers via satellite will be. And if the buyer is swiping their state ID (drivers’ license, etc,) what would happen for out-of-state buyers, or buyers the state official determines need to show a second form to verify their identification?

Like the Virginia ABC, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has a policy not to overserve, or sell alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated. Obviously, major signs of intoxication (smell, etc) could be concealed on the satellite cameras, but how accurate are Breathalyzer tests? And what would the cutoff be to be considered intoxicated?

The program is still in its testing phase, but 100 more kiosks are set to roll out next month.

The Virginia State Police announced that traffic enforcement efforts will increase over the holiday weekend as part of the safety campaign Operation Combined Accident Reduction Effort (CARE). Additional patrols will aim at catching speeders, reckless or impaired drivers, and seat belt/child safety seat violations.

We’ll try to post the locations of sobriety checkpoints as they’re announced, but expect stepped-up use of DUI-directed patrols.

Nine people died in accidents during last year’s holiday weekend, and troopers arrested 129 people on suspicion of DUI. The enforcement campaign began at 12:01 a.m. today, and will continue through midnight Monday.

Last year more than 2,000 people were killed, and around 18,000 people injured in accidents attributed to drunk-driving in Russia, according to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass.

Currently, Russian law allows a driver to have an alcohol content of .3 grams per liter of a drivers’ blood. You don’t need to go to Google or your iPhone looking for an easy conversion on this one—it’s basically a BAC of .03, which is lower than most developed nations (US and Canada allow .08 and most of the European Union allows only .05).

The Lower House of the Russian parliament approved this bill (449 out of 450 deputies voted for it), and it is expected to become law in the near future.

Since things like cough syrup or or alcohol used in cooking can have a (very minute) effect on BAC, it will be interesting to see how a zero-tolerance policy pans out for Russia. Like much of Eastern Europe, the legal drinking age is 18.

While most articles don’t mention the punishment for a DUI in Russia, in Virginia the consequences remain very serious. If you have been charged with a DUI or DWI in Virginia, finding an experienced attorney may be the best thing for your case. If this has happened to you or someone you know, please contact the Parrish Law Firm for a free case evaluation and to discuss your options.

An underage person who commits a second offense of possession of alcohol can lose their driver’s license for up to a year, whether or not they’d been driving.

Currently, they would only be able to lose their license for up to six months.

Another change: courts will no longer be able to issue a restricted driver’s license to drive to and from school for any minor convicted of a DUI while under the age of 18.

These are just 2 of almost 900 laws which go into effect today.