<p>OP: Advice only, please hold the criticism if your college jr would never drink.</p>
<p>The luckiest thing here is no one was hurt. So very very very lucky. The most important thing going forward is that your son never ever again finds himself in this situation. How will you achieve that?</p>
<p>The rest is all not that important (compared to what could have been) and can be dealt with - imho.</p>
<p>Lots of speculation and we all are awaiting more closure from OP.</p>
<p>Very fortunate no one was hurt. Count your blessings on that one.</p>
<p>Since the accident happened a few houses down, I think the female driver is a lie. S needs to be honest with mother - and hopefully the neighbor has been satisfied and police report not too damaging.</p>
<p>Wishing the best on the police report and S coming clean to parent. S made a mistake and may have a heavy penalty. Hope family lawyer can help smooth things out.</p>
<p>Young, tired drivers make mistakes. The alcohol is bad as DUIs follow you throughout life on insurance.</p>
<p>My sister was very tired from a late work night when she was in high school, and hit a parked car on a very wide street. No alcohol involved. This was before cell phones. I do not know if she drove the few blocks home to call police/talk to parents - it might have been too late and no house lights on at homes near the hit car.</p>
<p>By the way, COP stands for Constable on Patrol - it is not a derogatory term, but I would always address a police officer very politely and meekly, by Sir, Miss/Ms, Officer. </p>
<p>My DDs are not ‘risk takers’ like some kids when it comes to driving, drinking, drugs. One does need to know their S/D, but sometimes kids use very poor judgment. All you can do is hope they call you when they need advice (hopefully before a situation develops to bad).</p>
<p>Was there a post where it stated there was a witness or are people just assuming? If it’s close to home, it’s very possible there are tire tracks from the point of impact back to the OP’s house and that the police noticed the tracks, followed them to the home, and then knocked on the door.</p>
<p>There has to be a witness to SOMETHING. Otherwise, how could the police have shown up in the middle of the night? Someone called them.</p>
<p>I would just add that there is a difference between standards for charging a crime and conviction. Charging requires probable cause (reasonable suspicion) – conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The nature of the accident plus the son’s demeanor when interviewed by the police may be probable cause to charge DUI-- and in fact he may have already given the police a statement admitting that he had been drinking, as part of his story about the girl-without-a-name who was supposedly driving. His own statements are admissions that could be used against him. </p>
<p>It’s common practice for people for many prosecutors to pile on charges even if they don’t have the evidence to sustain a conviction on everything. It’s also common practice for these cases to be resolved through plea bargaining; rare to go to trial. So this young man could very well be charged with DUI as well as whatever other offenses are appropriate.</p>
<p>And again – the OP doesn’t have the whole story, including what led up to the accident. There may be other witnesses who come to light. </p>
<p>There is a reason young men have such high insurance rates. Sometimes alcohol is not involved, just poor judgment. My friend’s son is facing prison for killing another driver. Things could be a lot worse. </p>
<p>I would be a different kind of neighbor, especially if I recognized the truck. Years ago, neighbor across street started asking me questions about the party night before. Once she learned my son was not in-town, she focused on my next-door neighbor, with a son same age. It was clear she had not called the police, first wanting to know who had the party, with kids outside, leaving beer bottles around and disturbing all of us. The neighbors were asked to clean up all the mess. Even if a light had been hit, a complaint could wait until the morning. </p>
<p>A lot of this sturm und drang assumes that the S was lying about the girl driving. I don’t see why that assumption is being made. Who knows whether the girl was sober enough to drive, or merely less drunk than the guys.</p>
<p>I find it quite likely that a girl unaccustomed to driving a truck might veer off the road–was there ice and snow involved?–if someone turned unexpectedly in front of them and she was startled. I also find it likely that they found themselves semi-stuck in soft ground and he stupidly told her to gun the engine to get out. I find it quite likely that this might result in the truck slewing a bit to the side and making contact with a utility pole. Believe me, having knocked off the side mirror and scraped my car backing out of my garage, I can tell you that it doesn’t take much force.</p>
<p>It sounds as if he told the policeman that someone else was driving but refused to give the name. If so, he hasn’t “lied” to the police at all. Unless, of course, he made up the story out of whole cloth. Unlikely to me that he would be that creative when drunk at 2:30 AM just a few minutes away from the incident. Is everyone assuming that he is a practiced liar, or had a story all ready in advance, complete with all of the detail about being cut off and telling her to gun the engine, etc, just in case something happened? Amazing forethought on his part, if so.</p>
<p>ding ding ding! Class2012, I’ve been reading through the comments wondering why that wasn’t everyone’s first assumption. Even in our quiet leafy suburb, they don’t need to call in a CSI team to follow the muddy tire track 3 houses down the street to the driveway where the pickup with the muddy tires and smashed door is parked. Even in the dark, you can probably follow that trail. (And in my particular neighborhood, I know which house you will end up at, but that’s another story.) So probably the neighbor heard the noise, called police, and the police followed the trail</p>
<p>OP, I agree with others that you should get a lawyer involved, make sure your DS does not lie to the police about anything, and keep in mind that many happy successful professional family type adults have incidents like this in their past. Come back for support and advice if you wish, but we all know it could have been one of us up at 2 this morning. </p>
<p>As for the neighbor. It is very possible that heard the noise, looked outside and saw a truck spinning out in his yard and called the police. He then went back to bed and the wife may have said “Oh, the truck you described might belong to the Smith family down on the corner…” So then he may have mentioned this assumption once the police arrived. </p>
<p>I must have missed it, because I am still confused about how the girl got home.</p>
<p>Why do we think he’s lying is an interesting question.</p>
<p>The OP seemed to indicate that she suspected the mystery girl was made up. Someone else was driving is also the go-to lie for kid’s in these sorts of situations. And, then there is the unlikely scenario of another car following this out-of-control pickup truck to chauffeur the designated driver who plowed into a light pole home.</p>
<p>I guess it’s possible.</p>
<p>Right, Flossy. And if true, that’s a lot of people with bad judgment, that not one of them thought to report what happened and all of them thought it was ok to just skip on home. I also keep coming back to-wouldn’t three kids in two cars and all the getting out, getting into different cars (I assume SOMEONE got out to see how the truck was stuck or the damage it caused after hitting the pole) have made a lot of noise?</p>
<p>At that hour, I can see it waking a neighbor up, who’d see the multiple cars/kids. But, if there WAS no other kid (s), police can likely tell that too by lack of different footprints in the mud, tire tracks, etc. Something’s very fishy. We just don’t know which version stinks.</p>
<p>I don’t think another car following to pick her up is unlikely at all. </p>
<p>I had a terrible attack of vertigo at work once, and was driven home in my car by a coworker, with another coworker following behind in their car to take them both back to work.</p>
<p>Makes perfect sense if one friend is driving for another in this kind of situation. </p>
<p>Come to think of it, H and I did that very thing for BIL and SIL after their wedding. (She wasn’t drunk, he was, but she couldn’t drive in her dress.) H drove them to hotel with me following. I took H and I back to FIL’s house. </p>
<p>This isn’t far-fetched in the least.</p>
<p>Perhaps a parent of the girl (if she exists) phoned police and sent them to the boy’s home in the wee hours. They have more reason to be awake than the neighbors whose lawn got ripped up. No matter whether she came home drunk, tipsy or stone-sober; she’d have reason to be visibly upset at what had just transpired, whether she was a driver or witness. </p>
<p>I strongly doubt that the girl’s parents would sic the cops on their own D.</p>
<p>Unless someone saw this kid behind the wheel drunk, there will be no drunk driving charge. It is no illegal to be a drunk passenger.
This late night wreck onto a lawn happened to us years go. A drunk 22 yr old took out our fence and the one my neighbor had to. We went out to investigate but when they are trying to back out to get away, you pretty well assume they are fine and trying o flee. We got the license and my neighbor saw the driver. He ended up paying for it all, but could not be charged with DUI because, as stated above, there was no proof he did the drinking before he drove, but rather said he had a Drink when he got home to calm down. Everyone knew better, but he dodged that bullet.
If I were OP I would get a lawyer too. There may have been a girl, which suggests he did learn from his older brother’s mistake. The story is completely believable. We have done that for friends, and my son has done that for friends. I suspect the victim saw the car driving off and then called police. Fix the lawn, and he will be fine most likely. The police and the pole may be a different matter.</p>
<p>I have a hard time believing a neighbor saw this happen at 2:30 and the cops didn’t show up at the house until 4:30 a.m.</p>
<p>That’s true but they do calls based on emergency, this would be low on the list. No injuries, no threat, minimal damage.</p>
<p>First, best wishes to the OP, who probably has her hands full right now.</p>
<p>Second, several of you beat me to it-- I was gonna say there are likely muddy tire tracks leading to the driveway of the OP. My guess? Neighbor was awakened (sorry collegestudent- many of us are asleep at 2 am) by the noise of the tires and the metal banging in her yard. Dont know how well lit it is or if the car hitting the lightpost knocked the light out, but regardless, neighbor is startled by the noise, worried about an accident or vandalism and calls 911. Then looks out and doesnt see anyone - or maybe sees the truck heading off, maybe. ( he/they “floored it” – not “zoomed off” but were probably gone or heading off). So police show up at neighbors house to take the report, look at the damage, etc. Cop says “did you see the vehicle? Neighbor says " I think it was a dark colored truck”. Cop says" anyone around here drive one of those? Neighbor says “oh yeah, Johnnie down the street drives one.” Cop heads down that way, sees the tire tracks, and he rings the doorbell. As they say, if it has 4 legs, a mane and a tail, think horse, not zebra.</p>
<p>And vadenschludde, sorry, but you are sounding like a broken record about the “cant prove he was drinking” thing. They have plenty of things they can charge him with. They probably dont need to pile on the drunk driving one. OF course, if he admitted being drunk, and later admits to have been the driver… well… thats why he NEEDs an attorney.</p>
<p>I’m sure the police showed up because the neighbor called in because of the property damage and recognized the truck. There is that property damage issue. If the police issue a ticket the OP’s lawyer can probably negotiate a restitution settlement and the charges could be dropped. The drinking is between the OP and the son. </p>
<p>I said I was waiting for OP to come back, but since everyone is speculating, I will throw mine in as well. Maybe this wasn’t the first time OP’s son has been disruptive, so when the neighbor was awoken in the middle of night, he knew it was OP’s son. If I were woken up in the middle of night and were to look outside of my window, I don’t think I could see a car that clearly to know whose car it was. </p>