Your Car After a Chantilly DUI Arrest

After a person is arrested and charged with a DUI in Chantilly, the large majority of the time their car is impounded and towed. There are some circumstances in which the vehicle will not be impounded, for example, where there is another individual in the car or the car belongs to another individual that can come to the scene to take the car away. Those are exceptional circumstances where the police do not have to impound it and they usually do not allow for it.

With that said, it is most common in Chantilly for the police to have somebody tow the vehicle either to a lot or to the police department impound lot where the vehicle then will be inventoried. When a person wants to retrieve their car in the tow lot, they should bring proof of ownership, proof of title, and some form of picture identification. You should also contact a Chantilly DUI lawyer to ensure their rights are protected in the case that the police violate your constitutional rights or find contraband items in the car.

At the Impound Lot

Prior to picking up their car at a DUI tow lot, a person can expect their car to be inventory searched. What that means is that they will have the entire vehicle searched. If there is any contraband, it will be found, inventoried and marked as evidence, and the person could face additional charges.

If the officer that searched the car found a bag with illegal substances, the officer will bring additional charges against the individual who owns the car or who occupied the car at the time of the arrest.

This could make the case worse, especially if there is evidence in the vehicle that could show guilt for DUI purposes. For example, if there are empty beer bottles in the back of the vehicle or some other type of intoxicating substance that the person might have been engaged in with and the person’s DNA is imprinted on the bottle or the bags.

Additionally, if the substances are illicit objects or things that have legal ramifications, it could cause problems. The same goes for people with guns or drugs in their car. Those will be additional charges that could be utilized for felony level charges, making the initial underlying DUI case much more serious.

Advantages of a Lawyer

The benefit of having a Chantilly lawyer at your side is that an attorney is going to make sure the officers did their due diligence when conducting the inventory on the vehicle. If there are valuable things in the vehicle, the attorney is going to make sure that the individual gets them back. If other charges are brought, the attorney will be there from the beginning to ensure the person does not have any incriminating evidence or admission of guilt to the individual if they searched the car to the arresting or investigating officers.

There are many reasons to have an attorney by your side when your vehicle is impounded and inventoried.