Last August the state passed a law requiring even first time DWI offenders to outfit their cars with breathalyzer-triggered ignition locks for a minimum of six months. So congratulations to Oscar Cabeza, who yesterday became the first person in the city [pdf] indicted for not installing the device! What does he win? Oh, up to four years in prison.
In June 2009, Cabeza was convicted of DWI and a judge ordered him to install one of the devices, which locks the ignition if the driver blows over .025 and sets the car's alarms blaring. Cabeza was pulled over after leaving a Queens strip club in September, and blew a .083, just over the state's limit of .08. He also allegedly confessed, “I drank two hours ago at Club Perfection.” Cops found he hadn't installed the device, which costs $100 and around $110 a month to maintain, and he was indicted for ignoring the judge's order. Maybe he just downloaded the app?
Cops also found that his license had already been revoked, and the officer who took him to the station said they found marijuana in the patrol car where Cabeza had been sitting. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said, “The public has long understood that drunk drivers do not simply cause ‘accidents,’ rather they commit a crime each time they get behind the wheel after drinking, risking causing serious injury and even death to innocent victims. In this case, the defendant is alleged to have purposely ignored the court’s mandate to install a device in his car that would have prevented him from driving drunk."
