As a city in Contra Costa County with approximately 110,000 residents, Antioch has also been known as Marsh’s Landing, Smith’s Landing, and East Antioch. Antioch is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland, located in the East Bay region of San Francisco. As one of the oldest towns in the state of California, Antioch was originally a shipping point for Rancho Los Meganos, one of the largest California ranches.
When coal was discovered in the hills south of Antioch, coal mining became the first significant industry in the area, other than farming and dairy cattle. In 1863, the discovery of copper ore created a high level of excitement in the town; however, within a few short years, the copper bubble burst.
(Antioch is also known as the “home of the milk carton,” since the patented method of applying a wax coating to cardboard containers was developed here.)
If you are a resident of this thriving city, you may have found your way into the TailGaters Sports Bar and Grill, located at Golf Course Road, at one time or another. With a casual atmosphere, good drinks, friendly service, and televisions to watch your favorite sport on, TailGaters is a good place to spend some down time with friends. Perhaps Cruisers Saloon in the Eastwood Plaza Shopping Center is more to your taste, with its disco-like hanging lamps, big screen televisions, and solid offering of mixed drinks, beer, and wine. Your stopping-off place could also be Beer Garden, located on West 2nd Street, with its cold beer, good music, and pool tables.
The Common Penalties for a DUI in California
Whether you stop by one of these local Antioch bars from time to time, or you have your own favorite place, you could find yourself being pulled over for DUI on your way home, charged with a California DUI. You might also find yourself in a DUI checkpoint at Lone Tree Way and Davidson Drive.
Either way, being charged with a DUI in the state of California is a serious matter. You could end up paying $390 to $1,000 in fines, up to $2,600 in assessments, and you could spend from 48 hours to six months behind bars. Your vehicle may also be impounded, and you’ll be subjected to probation for three to five years, an ignition interlock device on your vehicle, and a mandatory alcohol counseling program.
Was There Police Misconduct in Your DUI Arrest?
Just because you’ve been arrested and charged doesn’t mean your case is over. Your case may have been affected by an officer’s mistake or misconduct.
Police officers may simply make an error in judgment, or may blatantly abuse their power and position. When a police officer’s misconduct impacts your DUI case, the results can be severe. It is especially important that you immediately contact a California DUI attorney if you feel there was police misconduct involved in your DUI charges.
The sooner an attorney is on your case, the more thoroughly they can investigate, and the sooner they begin building a case on your behalf. In some instances, the police officer’s report regarding your DUI stop and subsequent arrest may not be accurate, the officer may have lied under oath, or even purposely fabricated DUI evidence against you.
The police officer who pulled you over must have had reasonable suspicion to believe you were committing a criminal act—including a traffic violation—in order to legally stop you. If there was no justification for the stop, your attorney may be able to have any evidence against you suppressed and your case dismissed. Perhaps the police officer in your case exhibited misconduct at a sobriety checkpoint, or failed to follow the strict guidelines associated with DUI checkpoints. If the police officer in your case administered field sobriety tests, yet failed to take into consideration weather or surface conditions, then the results of those tests might not be reliable.
After you were stopped, the officer must have had reasonable cause to believe you committed a crime in order to arrest you for DUI. If no such probable cause existed, the prosecutor’s case against you may be significantly diminished. The police officer in your case may not have followed procedure when administering your breath test. There are specific rules and procedures which must be followed in order for the BAC results to be accurate—if these procedures were not followed, the results may not be admissible. Don’t wait after being charged with an Antioch DUI—call an experienced DUI attorney immediately.
The Law Office of Nabiel C. Ahmed serves Antioch, Contra Costa County, and the whole East Bay region. Call our Oakland office at (510) 907-6600 or submit a short online form. If you’ve been detained, we’re available to provide jail interviews or over-the-phone consultations.