A New Jersey woman who had apparently attended a Billy Joel concert in New York was charged with DWI after police say she was stopped for leaving the scene of an accident. Alison Cantor, 42, was driving a Mercedes-Benz sedan on Varick Street in Manhattan around 12:30 a.m. when it struck another Mercedes-Benz, investigators said.
Port Authority police stationed at the Holland Tunnel said they witnessed the accident and saw a person get out of the sedan, look at the damage, and return to the car. Officers instructed Cantor to remain, but she drove off into the tunnel toward New Jersey, they said, and was eventually caught in Jersey City. Police detected the odor of alcohol, and Cantor told them she had just left the concert and had had a few drinks during the show. She failed a field sobriety test and a Breathalyzer, and in addition to DWI was charged with reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
What this Manhattan DWI case shows
A minor fender-bender can become a multi-charge case in a hurry. Leaving the scene, even of a low-speed collision, is a separate offense, and it is one prosecutors use to argue consciousness of guilt. Field sobriety tests and a roadside breath reading then supply the DWI, but both are far more challengeable than they look: field tests are subjective and easy to fail sober, and breath devices have to be properly calibrated and administered.
Cases that cross jurisdictions or involve concert or nightlife travel are common, and they are defensible. A Manhattan DWI lawyer and New York DUI attorney who understands how these cases are built can test the stop, the field tests, and the breath evidence. Learn more about the field sobriety tests and the breath test.
This write-up is drawn from public news reports at the time and is preserved here for general information only. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt, and every person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case, and nothing here is legal advice.