It happened on the X of June 2008, the moment I have been dreading all my life…… when I checked the charge sheet the next day the time said 03:28 am….. as I sit now and try to recall what had happened, I understand the cops refusal to accept my bribe money, I was finished utterly & completely out of it……. I am so embarrassed to admit it…. What possibly could have driven me to such utter foolishness? What is happening to me? What possessed me so badly?
When I left the party alone at the wee hours, I was trying to find my way home….next thing that happened I got stopped by cops at a roadblock….. When the cops asked if I had been drinking I couldn’t deny it, evidence of empty beer bottles on the passenger seat was there for anyone to see…. Whenever cops asked if I work, I always fed them a lie that I am a struggling postgraduate student with no money and plead for forgiveness… Not this time, that wouldn’t work… everything happened so fast from them asking me to blow into that breathalyser, my car keys being taken from me, being cuffed and finally being bundled into the back of a JMPD bakkie…. Phew how did it all come to this…. Sitting hear thinking about it I blame my friends for letting me drive considering the state I was in…. when I told them what had happened, all they could say was we couldn’t tell you were so bad, we’ve seen you do it many times & u’ve always managed to get yourself home safe….. Huh I couldn’t believe what I was hearing but I guess I couldn’t completely blame them….
When we reached the police station, I remember being in a room with a couple of people, being asked a barrage of questions, cant recall what those where, but I can recall a male nurse who asked me to stretch out my arm and drew blood for analysis (the alcohol content)….. when all of this was happening I remember being so calm, I guess I had accepted it that my day had come & ther was no turning back.... the calmness made me even forget to contact my friends and let them know of my situation when I still had my phone… only when the phone was taken did it dawn on me that I needed to contact someone…
At the holding cells there must have been about 8 of us who were caught for drunken driving and a few other guys who were in for assault… oddly enough there was a pastor in our midst who had been arrested for assault, I only found out about this when we got chatting in the morning… when we had just arrived at the holding cell the pastor started a service, prayer and asked people to give their lives to Jesus. When I think about this, this was a brilliant move by the pastor, I think it got the guys to be calm & relax… when we got chatting in the morning the guys had tremendous respect for the pastor and there was a spirit of camaraderie amongst the guys…
It must have been around six am when the police barged in and they took us to another room for finger printing, this didn’t take long and we were taken back to the holding cells.. at the mercy of one of the guys who had managed to smuggle a phone into the cells, I tried to reach a couple of my friends to come and bail me out… I never did manage to get any of them cos their cellphones were off. The frustration got worse & worse as the morning progressed….. We were served brown bread and soft porridge for breakfast… I went for the bread cause at least it was buttered, the soft porridge was not an option cause I had had enough soft porridge as a kid to last me a lifetime not even prison was gonna change that…..
At last after trying to reach someone anyone to come and bail me out…. I did manage to reach GIRL (I wrote about what happened between me & GIRL in my other article, DID I or DID I NOT) & she promised she would come pronto…. It took GIRL a while before she got to me… it was only after lunch had been served that I got released. BAIL was set at R800 and GIRL paid it… you cannot imagine the relief that came when my name was finally called and was told that bail had been paid & id be going home… I am so grateful to GIRL for helping me out; I am not sure how I could have managed a night in the cells and missing out on work the next day…..
Now I am facing the prospect of a criminal record, the court date has been set…. I have been seeking advice from friends and people who’ve been in a similar situation…. The advice has been ranging from getting a lawyer, accepting the charge and pleading sorry, to contacting the investigating officer and buying the case, to hope & pray the lab results get delayed and the case is postponed repeatedly until it gets thrown out of court…. I understand the possibilities are I could get a fine, problem is I have no clue how much this can be or a suspended sentence… until then I am not sure what to do…what is the worst that can happen….
That is my story, have you any stories to share relating to being arrested, prison etc, or any thoughts on my predicament….. lets share….any advice will do….