Harry wept -- police report from the DUI arrest of Harbhajan Singh Ahluwalia

Finally, here is the seven page narrative of Harry Walia (aka Harbhajan Singh Ahluwalia, as his driver's license indicated was his name at the time) and his arrest in 1996 for DUI. Walia only blew a 0.116% blood alcohol content percentage (0.080% is the legal limit presently, although the minimum for prosecution in 1996 was 0.100%).

So while he wouldn't appear to be very drunk on paper, Ahluwalia's behavior, as documented by Venice Police Officer R.J. Perry, indicated that the Sikh with the chic was totally wasted. The initial description of Ahluwalia's driving has him weaving all over the place, driving down the center of the road, going the wrong way down a one way street, attempting a turn and then failing to figure out how to make the turn, etc.

When asked to exit the car, Ahluwalia almost fell over and had to hold onto the door and step sideways in order to regain his balance. As to his field sobriety test, more staggering around, losing balance, etc. Ahluwalia couldn't recite the alphabet properly, although that may have been a cultural/language thing, as he is a native of India.

When Ahluwalia arrived at the jail, his behavior was described as "mumbling" and "crying."

Ahluwalia put up one hell of a legal fight subsequent to his arrest. The State Attorney's Office plea bargained him down to reckless driving a year and a half after the initial arrest, this after numerous filings by Ahluwalia's attorney, even though none of the descriptions of Ahluwalia's driving would normally fit under the statutory definition of "reckless driving."

In the court record, although not included here, was a copy of Ahluwalia's Florida driving record up until the date of hiis arrest. That, too, was illuminating: his driver's license had been suspended out of Hillsborough County, although the record doesn't say why. His driving privileges had been reinstated in early 1995. Then there are numerous speeding tickets, polus charges of driving with tags expired and driving with no insurance.

You can read the full report at http://www.venfl.com/features2/pdf/ahluwalia-dui-arrest.pdf

If you haven't seen the accompanying mug shot yet, you can find that at http://www.venfl.com/messageboard/images/ahluwalia-mugshot.jpg