DUI Arrests, Convictions, and Laws

Richard Bolling, 42, is charged with aggravated DUI, reckless homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the May 2009 crash that killed Trenton Booker. Trenton was riding his bike late at night with a friend Michael when Bolling allegedly struck him at 81st Street and Ashland Avenue and then fled the scene.

Prosecutors alleged in opening statements that Bolling, who was off-duty at the time, wasn’t given a field sobriety test until nearly two hours after he was arrested driving the wrong way down a street shortly after the crash. Officers at the scene said he passed the exam.

According to court filings by prosecutors, an undisclosed superior officer was captured on a video recording at the crash scene telling Bolling he would “try to help you out as much as possible.”

It was four and a half hours after the crash, and only under pressure from an Internal Affairs sergeant, when Bolling submitted to a Breathalyzer and registered 0.079 percent, just under the legal limit of 0.08 percent, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors are expected to call an expert witness who will estimate that Bolling’s blood-alcohol content exceeded the legal limit at the time of the crash, according to court filings.

The victim told police he was driving his 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood east on Manassas Drive, Manassas Park, about to turn on northbound Cabbel Drive at 4:44 p.m. when a 1997 Nissan Altima hit his car’s front and rear passenger side, Manassas Park police spokeswoman Karen Barton said.

The driver of the Nissan—later identified as Cristobal Gutierrez—reportedly turned onto nearby Polk Drive, where the victim blocked Gutierrez’ car, authorities said.

Gutierrez got out and ran. The victim called 911 while chasing him.

Police found Gutierrez, 49, of Manassas Drive, at the intersection of Old Centreville Road and Polk Drive, Manassas Park, and charged him with DUI – 3rd offense, driving after being declared an habitual offender, hit and run attended/damage over $1,000, Barton said.

He was held without bond, and has a court date of Feb. 23.

Brandy Allen was behind bars Monday morning, waiting to face a judge.

Her family disputed the allegations.

Allen insists she drank a small amount of alcohol the night she crashed, killing her daughter, but investigators say it was enough to put here over the legal limit.

A makeshift memorial stands in the spot that 10-year-old Brianna Johnson died, and her five-year-old sister, Genia, critically injured.

Police said she was driving, got distracted and slammed her car into the back of a parked semi on the morning after Christmas 2011.

Tests showed her blood alcohol level was .17, twice the legal limit, although Allen’s friends dispute that.

Jessica Lynn Lanier of Goose Creek was originally charged with DUI after S.C. Highway Patrol troopers said she struck the firefighters as they were working at the site of a car crash on Oct. 19.

Highway Patrol Cpl. Bob Beres said she was arrested on the upgraded charge Thursday based on one of the fire fighters’ injuries.

She was released on her own recognizance from the Berkeley County jail Friday morning, according to court records. Her attorney could not be reached.

Goose Creek fire Capt. Michael Althoff, 45, and firefighter Christopher Harrison, 31, were working an accident on U.S. Highway 176 near the Walmart store shortly after midnight when they were struck by a car heading west, Beres said.

Both men suffered leg injuries, according to a Goose Creek police report.