By PETE O’CAIN
and RICHARD WALKER
Herald staff
POULSBO — Intoxicated and in a parked car? Whether you are arrested depends on where you are.
Officials with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and Poulsbo Police Department say a sheriff’s sergeant received no special treatment when he was not detained although intoxicated and in the driver’s seat of his parked vehicle in the Regal Cinemas parking lot, and later when he was found in his vehicle at home. He admitted to a Poulsbo police officer that he was intoxicated and had driven home.
Poulsbo Police Chief Al Townsend said the sergeant’s home is outside the city limits, so the scene was turned over to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department.
At each scene, the sergeant’s vehicle was not running and the keys were not in the ignition, according to reports.
In Snohomish County, a motorist in a similar circumstance would likely be cited for “Physical control of vehicle under the influence.” Snohomish County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton referred to RCW 46.61.504, which states:
“(1) A person is guilty of being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug if the person has actual physical control of a vehicle within this state:
“(a) And the person has, within two hours after being in actual physical control of the vehicle, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher as shown by analysis of the person’s breath or blood made under RCW 46.61.506; or
“(b) The person has, within two hours after being in actual physical control of a vehicle, a THC concentration of 5.00 or higher as shown by analysis of the person’s blood made under RCW 46.61.506; or
“(c) While the person is under the influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor or any drug; or
“(d) While the person is under the combined influence of or affected by intoxicating liquor and any drug.”
Even if the keys are not in the ignition, Ireton said, “You have the ability to physically control that vehicle [and] you have the ability to have access to a public roadway.”
If you are found in your vehicle in your driveway at home and you tell an officer you drove there while intoxicated, you would not be cited for DUI unless there is corroborating evidence that you drove there, Ireton said. That’s because what you say could be influenced by the fact your mind is impaired, she said.
Ireton added that it doesn’t matter if you are a law enforcement officer or a civilian — you’re going to be arrested.
Washington State Patrol spokesman Russ Winger said an intoxicated person in a legally parked vehicle with keys removed from the ignition can technically be arrested.
“I don’t think they have to [arrest]. But could you? Yeah,” Winger said. “You can do that on almost anything and leave it up to the court.”
A judge ultimately decides whether a person was in physical control of a vehicle, Winger said.
In King County, people typically aren’t arrested if their vehicle is off the road, according to a spokeswoman for the King County Sheriff’s Office. In cases where someone is reported to have driven while intoxicated — but not actually seen driving — the alleged driver normally isn’t arrested because “it would be really difficult to prove in court” that the driver actually drove the vehicle.
