Driver racks up 2 DWI charges in single night...

News Observer ^ | Saturday, August 30, 2003 | Oren Dorrel

[ConservativeMan55]

By OREN DORELL, Staff Writer

A Raleigh man was arrested twice Friday morning on charges of drunken driving -- once after an accident and again three hours later after returning to his car and driving it away from where it was parked. "It was absolutely terrible," Sougata Mukherjee , editor of the Triangle Business Journal, said Friday afternoon, summing up a night that began at Sullivan's Steakhouse on Glenwood Avenue. "This is the first time something like this has happened to me." Mukherjee's first arrest occurred after his 2001 Nissan Pathfinder rear-ended a 2001 Saab driven by Winston Cavin, a News & Observer night metro editor who was on his way home from work. There were no injuries.

The accident occurred near the intersection of Glenwood Avenue and Lead Mine Road at 12:34 a.m., Raleigh Police Officer C.M. Warner wrote on Mukherjee's arrest warrant.

According to court documents, Mukherjee, 39, of 8910-210 Half Moon Court in Raleigh, smelled of alcohol and registered 0.16 on a breath test -- twice the legal limit. He was transported to the Wake County jail, where his license was seized and revoked because of the DWI charge, and he was released on a written promise to appear.

It is not clear where he went from there, but about 3:45 a.m., Mukherjee was behind the wheel of his Nissan again when he was stopped by the same officer at Creedmoor and Lynn roads in North Raleigh, according to a second arrest report.

That time, he registered 0.11 on the breath test. He was arrested and booked on a second DWI charge and on a charge of driving while his license was revoked, according to court records. His car was seized.

Mukherjee's driving record is otherwise clean in North Carolina, according to Division of Motor Vehicles records. A single DWI conviction usually carries a minimum sentence of 24 hours in jail or a treatment program and a one-year license revocation.

Asked why he returned to his car, Mukherjee replied, "I was in total shock. I don't know."

After the second arrest, he was placed in the pretrial release program, a court-administered program that enforces court dates and good behavior with the threat of jail time. He was released into the custody of a sober adult sometime after 7 a.m.

Mukherjee said he told his boss about the incident but has not learned whether there will be any consequences.

Staff writer Oren Dorell can be reached at 829-8963 or odorell@newsobserver.com.

[ConservativeMan55]

"Just Damn!"

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Porterville]

Rule number 1 in socialist destroy your life criminal slavery America: Never ever drive drunk with cops on the prawl for over 5,000 dollars worth of fines in one stop.

[ConservativeMan55]

[rangerwife]

I knew a guy that used to work with my husband that got 2 in one weekend, but not 2 on the same night.

I can't believe they let him go. My younger brother got one in Raleigh and I'm pretty sure he stayed in jail all night and it was his 1st DWI.

[Imal]

Kind of puts a face on the expression "two-time loser", doesn't it?

[rangerwife]

In fact, I know he did because our dad had to bail him out.

[Porterville]

Hey, I resemble that:)

[ConservativeMan55]

They let him go because he "promised"

I've seen on COPS TV Show before where they let somebody go and then found them later and arrested them.

[ConservativeMan55]

LOL!!!

[ConservativeMan55]

[South40]

Sounds like he's got Kitty Dukakis syndrome.

[ConservativeMan55]

LOL! If he had run it off the road into a lake maybe Ted Kennedy syndrome!!

[rangerwife]

Yeah, I've seen that happen on COPS too. Crazy! Guess my brother didn't "promise". I shouldn't be joking about it, because it caused a lot of problems for him, my family, not only emotionally but also financially. He got busted leaving the Brent Rd. party at State and he lived on Gorman. He probably could've walked home.

[Porterville]

Oh man, I know that feeling.... that's why I had to get a steady girlfriend, I couldn't trust my judgement anymore.

[byteback]

This guy is clearly an amateur. It's Labor Day weekend so any real drunk knows to stay off the road.

[ConservativeMan55]

Yep. The thing is it could have been a lot worse if he had hit somebody.

[ConservativeMan55]

I don't drink myself. I never have. I just drink water.
:)

[ConservativeMan55]