Yep, talk about a ****** night. The timing was ironic, as I finally moved to the town that I work in and all my friends and work are real close, much different than what I've been used to for about 5 years. So I have a few beers, it's getting late, and my buddy (who's pretty trashed) needs a ride home. He lives like a mile away, so I figure no biggy. Sure enough, 2 blocks from his house I get pulled over.
I don't think I did horribly on the field sobriety test, but they said I failed. They say I have 3 options. I can take a breathalyzer, get my blood drawn, or refuse either and basically get my licence suspended immediately and I'm screwed. So I opt for the blood drawing, figuring it'll take a little time and raise my chances a bit. So they slap the cuffs on me, luckily they were cool and said they'd park my truck in front of my friends so it wouldn't have to be towed.
I'm a big guy, and riding in the back of one of those cars sucks. My hands are cuffed behind me, and I have to sit kind of side-ways to fit. The cop (who was pretty nice, btw) tells me to lean forward once in a while and move my hands around to keep the circulation going. Which, is pretty much impossible. We end up talking about the war and whatnot, after he found out I spent time in the Air Force. Discussed terrorism, and the Kobar Towers bombing, etc.
We get to the clinic (in the next town) and go in to get my blood drawn. He takes the cuffs off, by this time I got some pretty good creases in my wrists from the pressure, and some of my skin is turning white. They take my blood, and he puts my cuffs back in in front gratefully, as it was much more comfortable. All in all it took probably an hour from when I got pulled over till my blood was taken.
We head back to the detention center, and I inprocess. They frisk me, read me my rights, make me take off my shoes and belt, etc.
Then I end up sitting in jail for about 7 hours. My first experience with that, and needless to say it sucked. It was cold, they had us sitting in a lobby area because all the cells were full, and if you put your feet up on the chairs they yelled at you. If you stood up to stretch and maybe walk around a bit they told you to sit down cause it made them nervous. Couldn't really sleep, the infomercials on TV sucked monkey balls. And it took me six hours or so to get ahold of my friend to come get me out.
My court date isn't till December, I guess it made it longer because it takes like a month to process the blood or something. Anyways, I'll be looking for a lawyer this week, hoping to get reduced charges or something if I was over the limit.
Anyone have any experience with this? This was in Colorado btw.