File photo of police. (credit: Getty Images)
ATLANTA (AP) — Police in an Atlanta suburb say they released a Mexican diplomat accused of drunken driving without holding him in jail after they learned of his government position.
Mariano Saynez Ruiz Duran had a blood-alcohol level of 0.126 and had been clocked at 91 mph on Georgia 400 early Friday morning, a Roswell police report states.
He was released after police learned that he’s a vice consular at the Mexican Consulate General’s Atlanta office, Roswell police Lt. James McGee said.
Officers confirmed he has partial immunity from law enforcement actions after calling the U.S. Department of State, according to the police report.
It wasn’t known whether the 39-year-old north Fulton County resident has an attorney, and a home phone number for him could not be located.
Duran’s wife drove him away, and police would not have allowed him to drive himself because of public safety concerns, McGee said.
The officers who released him were following protocol that’s followed when diplomats and others are stopped, McGee said.
The diplomat was given citations accusing him of drunken driving and speeding, Roswell police Officer Lisa Holland told WSB-TV, which first reported the case.
“It’s going to be up to higher authorities as to what they’re going to do about the charges,” McGee told The Associated Press early Wednesday. “It’s going to be up to them at this point what they want to work out.”
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
0 comments:
Post a Comment