anothercls

I just got a call from a DE state trooper involving an accident on Friday. He asked a couple questions and I answered them w/o a problem. He basically said I confirmed that I caused an accident by saying I was in DE and that I drove a silver acura. I am now being charged with an unsafe lane change and I will have to go turn myself in after he writes up the warrant.

I know a couple people are in DE or near, anyone know any good lawyers there?

Any other advice?

I know people will say "deal with the consequences of your actions"....

1killercls

"deal with the consequences of your actions"....

Slimey

1) Did the incident in question really happen?
***details wanted***

2) Why did you answer incriminating questions over the phone?

3) What did the caller say that you are being charged with? Unsafe lane change (ie: just a moving violation) or something more felonious (involuntary manslaughter, hit and run, use of dangerous weapon...)?





...oh, and what killer said if the officer's charges are legit

anothercls

Trooper said there was an accident at this light. So I guess it happened.

I only told them I was in DE, but after reading this website even that may have been too much information. I also said I drove an Acura, or silver, not sure which one I did say.

Unsafe lane change was the charge. Issue being my insurance is nearly 6k a year as it is, let alone with another moving violation on it. I say another as I have had two out of state speeding tickets (4pts total). I have 2 points showing and those two are forgiven, so I technically have no points against me and it is nearly that much.

I will deal with the consequences, but I prefer they be minimal as opposed to having them maximized.

zeroday

so it sounds like you accidentally ran somebody off the road or into another driver?? accidents happen; not sure why you would get anything but a moving violation unless you knowingly fled the scene. 'turning' yourself in' sounds a bit scary though...i'd get a lawyer.

chef chris

Tom Pedersen in Wilmington. His number is in the book, good lawyer.

SilviaGTO

wtf happened? do you know what incident the cop is questioning you about?

Red-CL

Holy shit.

kensteele

Yeah, I'm going to have to say as a New Jersey resident, don't go to Delaware and turn yourself in. Not without a lawyer.....

Edit: after reading your post below, a lot of this can be taken care of over the telephone, I wouldn't go over there.

anothercls

The only thing I know is that I was driving through DE, stopped at a light and a mustang came up and said I caused an accident. I think this would be the incident the officer is referring to.

I didn't go back as I never trust people when they yell out the window at me.

Chris - Thanks for the recommendation, I am going to get in contact with a couple different lawyers this week.

I guess I have to go over next week sometime whenever the cop writes the warrant up....

Slimey

Makes you wonder what information the officer had on you to begin with (before you admitted being in the right place at the right time).

I'm assuming that he ran your plate that he or someone copied down -- but maybe he had something less incriminating -- like a NJ silver CL with partial plate or just a list of NJ silver CLs and you happened to answer affirmatively to his questions. Maybe you were the 20th person he called off a list and he just got lucky. Hmmm.

Did he (the officer) say that he saw you do the 'unsafe lane change' or is he going by someone else's testimony?

I wouldn't pay heed to someone yelling at me out of their window either. Too many strange things happen on our roads (car jacking...).

Make sure to give us a follow-up. This is quite interesting (at least to myself). If your infraction is worthy of an out-of-state warrant, then you'd think that a phone confession without an attorney present would violate due process and they would interrogate you more officially.

mclarenf3387

Do you know some of the questions he asked? Just saying you drove through Deleware at said time in a Silver Acura means nothing. What kind of Acura (model)? How did he get to you? Was it a partial plate or did someone get the full plate or what? Did he see it? There are so many holes in the case its not funny. Getting a lawer is your best bet.

beerknurd

They probably knew your car was the one that caused the accident, just not sure who was driving it.

kensteele

That's right, once they get you over there in their state, that's when it all begins...who knows what they have or what they're going to come up with, felony hit and run?

Did I say I wouldn't go over there to that state? Not without a lawyer.

I don't know the whole story here but it seems to me "you were the cause of an accident" is not very likely or informative. Who's the say you even knew there was an accident or that the other driver was just plain careless, etc. Do you have vehicle damage? If not, it's very hard to prove you caused an accident and that you left the scene. I drove past this couple on the freeway doing 95mph in the lane next to them. Scared them so badly they got disoriented and ran off the road, am I the cause of that accident?

anothercls

There are all kinds of unanswered questions. If he had my license plate from some witness (maybe the guy that yelled at me) he could have found out I have a silver Acura. "Silver acura" was all they knew. Maybe I should change my A to an H this week?

The questions he asked:
Were you in DE two days ago(friday)?
Me: I was in DE on Friday.

In DE or passing through?
Passing through

Do you drive a silver acura?
Yes

From this information he confirmed I had been in DE and I caused the accident.

I then gave him my insurance info just to be nice. He then said he was on vacation and I would be contacted once he writes up the arrest warrant and I should turn myself in after this call.

Some unanswered questions:

Speed limit is 55mph, why didn't I hear a car hit something if I were in that area? I had the moonroof open and the music wasn't loud as the speaker rattle that was getting fixed friday.
Who knows if the guy that said I did it didn't cause the accident and report it was me?

Steps I will take:
Contact a lawyer, there is one that is an ex-DA in DE that will probably know everyone involved and it will be easy to get things cleared up.
Go to DE and turn myself in after they call me.
Plead not-guilty and go from there.

I am kinda wondering if they are going to hold me overnight to plead in front of the judge or if I am going to have to plead either way when I arrive.

Even my father who used to work for the local sheriff's department said this sounds like a bunch of crap and that I should have a lawyer present with me.

I will give eveyone an update after I turn myself in next week.

kensteele

Mistake in my opinion. But it sounds like you think you might be guilty. If you knew for sure you weren't, no way you'd go report to a police station and probably go to jail for it.

Greg Koberstein

6k a year !!! You might want to reconsider your mode of transportation.

18anatak

How can you have a warrant out for an unsafe lane change? I've never heard that before. Thats more fucked up than a football bat.

95gt

How did it get to 6k? I am assuming your driving has not been too stellar in the past. Not saying you caused this accident but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....

sucks dude

18anatak

It could be a guy in a duck suit at a carnival....or maybe this chicken~~~~~> www.subservientchicken.com

95gt

Just saw that link earlier today. So funny.

ChadT

How do you know the guy who called is even a cop? I don't know of any that would be calling someone on their vacation. Sounds real fishy. If they had any evidence they would just issue a warrant. I don't see how you could cause an accident and not know about it.

anothercls

I will start off with my 6k a year in insurance. I have no points against me as I have 2 forgiven in NJ. I had one accident last year and that is when it went from 4600 a year up to the 6k (probably less). I have never hit anyone else and I drive over 25k a year so I think I would know I caused an accident.

I can't be sure I didn't cause it but there are so many things that don't make sense. I should have heard something or the police should have pulled me over before I left the state of DE.

I will only go to DE to cooperate with the police so it doesn't look like I am hiding anything. The argument would be that I avoided turning myself in as I was guilty.

The only way I know it was a cop, or assume it was a cop because the local police in my township came to my house saturday morning/afternoon and gave me a name and number to call. I called back and got the Sgt on duty and he transferred me to the troopers voicemail.

The officer was not on vacation but said he would be all this week. Or maybe it will take a week for him to gather the evidence he doesnt have?

ChadT

Wow that's wild. Did you see an accident at all?

anothercls

I did not see an accident at all. I wish I did so I knew if I did cause something or not, it would be a lot easier to justify everything then.

ChadT

Sounds like someone turned your plate in. I don't see how you could be charged with anything if the cop wasn't there. Probably turn out to be BS. Just be very careful what you say. Talk to a lawer.

jriga

That is BS. Get a lawyer.

kensteele

Dude, you are innocent until someone can prove you are guilty. Nobody who has ever turned themselves in looked less guilty. If the warrant is issued and you can verify it, then you may want to answer that warrant...and that doesn't always mean going to the police station.

ferizzo

One more question...where you doing anything bad when the guy in the mustang yelled at you saying, "you caused an accident"? What I mean is where you speeding, racing, changing lanes with no signal, etc?

I agree with most that this sounds very strange.

anothercls

I used my turn signal to change lanes the whole day, a very good habit I had had.

No speeding or racing, in fact the car in front of me was doing about 25mph, in a 55mph zone.

I along with everyone else would think that if I caused someone to hit something they would have blown their horn, I would have heard that or even heard the impact as people were probably going 55mph or more on the road.

I am glad I am getting some support here, I know the "deal with the consequences" came out, and I would be willing to do that if I knew for sure I did something.


Edit: About the warrant, I will let the officer call me with it first and then also have my father verify it exists before going to DE. I don't see why I can't just report to a police station in NJ for it, but whatever.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

A few years ago, I was backing out of a parking spot and I couldn't see anything because it was snowing heavily, and we already like 2 feets of snow on the ground (no, not in the TL).

I was backing up, then I thought I felt something. But I brushed it off, popped it in drive and went home.

A few hours later, a cop knocked on the door. He said I committed a hit-and-run. He wanted to take a look at my car, so of course I showed it to him. Nothing on my car. No damage.

I never got a ticket, or points on my license. I was only 18 back then, so I don't know what the hell was going on, but I got away with it somehow.


Anyway, I would recommend getting a lawyer for sure. Unsafe lane change is a civic infraction, which is why I don't understand how they can write up a warrant. But I guess they can if they wanted to. However, remember that they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was absolutely you that supposedly caused the accident. It's not like Acura only made one car.

Good luck.

Slimey

Hmmm. Sounding more and more interesting.


Maybe some hothead is just yanking your proverbial chain.

ferizzo

I think the point is that there is only one acura with his plate on it. the fact that the car is a silver acura is irrevelant (at this point...maybe relevant later is it goes to trial) because all they really need is the plate number.

chef chris

Call Tom in Wilmington & let him do the rest of the talking before you do anything/go to any police station. He's a very good lawyer. I've had worse tickets thrown out for less...this whole deal sounds incredibly circumstancial.

Don't make the 'good samaritan' mistake...

I was on the way home froma Sade concert at the Tweeter center in NJ...at 11:30 pm...came across a road I did not know...with a wicked-ass hairpin. Needless to say, there was a broken coupla suspension pieces when all was said & done. I did the good samaritan thing & called the cops...I ended up getting a FAT ticket & still ended up paying the towing/damages myself($1,800 ). Don't get screwed like me...call the lawyer.

anothercls

Chris - can you get me his # from the phone book? I dont have one newer than 1997 availabe and checking online didn't get me anything.

I once hit a telephone pole with my first car, totaled it, left the scene for about 5hrs and then called the cops. I got a ticket for careless driving and it was dropped as no one was injured or anthing.

Had I taken oxycontin that day I probably would have not been too agressive on the snow. And the oxy was prscribed because of knee surgery I had, not that I bought it off of Rush.

chef chris

When I get home, I'll PM you the number.

anothercls

Latest Update 20040416:

The lawyer Chris suggested is on a capital murder case for the next two weeks, so his secretary was nice enough to find me another lawyer. I just talked to the guy and he said he would do his best to take care of the ticket for me in court. I will post another reply once I go to the police station and turn myself in after the trooper calls.

NJ_CLS_driver

good luck buddy. Hope it works out for you

Slimey

Did you ever find out if the person that called you was indeed a law enforcement officer or if the whole thing is bogus?

anothercls

Still haven't confirmed, but I would not expect someone to setup an elaborate phone system with menu's and such. I can give you the number I called so you can see if you think it is fake..


I would seriously doubt it is an April fools joke, but it could be.