Pepper Spray Employed during Routine Drunk Driving Stop

A police officer in Bangor, Maine employed pepper spray on a 46-year-old male after a routine drunken driving stop on Sunday night.

Police were initially arresting the 34-year-old driver for operating a moving vehicle under the influence of intoxicants, but the 46-year-old passenger became irate and began arguing with police when he saw what was happening.

The man was asked to calm down and, after continual warnings, was arrested for disorderly conduct. As a result, the suspect had to be apprehended with the self defense spray canister.

When in police custody, the man was then charged with refusing to submit to arrest.

Police initially stopped the van that was being driven by the 34-year-old because it was too close to another vehicle. The driver, who already has two OUI convictions on his driving record, was charged with Class C felony working a moving vehicle under the influence after he failed a sobriety test given to him at the scene.

Additionally, he was also charged with operating beyond license restrictions, primarily drinking alcohol and getting behind the wheel.

In this day and age, it’s not uncommon to find officers with an array of self defense devices at their disposal. Since they were created over ten years ago there are many police departments around the world that have introduced them into the police force.

Police departments are aware of their benefits and as a result have begun to rely upon them to produce the effective results that many people are after. As they are non-lethal, they will only subdue the person targeted long enough for police to bring them into police custody.

Once this has been achieved the effect of the spray will wear off, but it eliminates the need for officers to use brute force that may otherwise be noticed if another device was employed.

Police don’t want to get harmed when they are doing their jobs and they don’t want the individuals they are bringing into police custody to receive injuries either. So, in order to combat this, it is necessary for police to have access to a number of tools that bring about the best results.

In order to do this, they can only rely upon pepper spray, which targets a large number of people in a small amount of time and that doesn’t harm those targeted in the process.