Blood collected under new law
Austin police early Tuesday drew the blood of a drunken driving suspect — without a previously required search warrant who was involved in a crash and had an 11-year-old boy in the car.
The incident happened 28 minutes after a new law took effect that gives police wider authority in the types of cases in which they can draw blood without a search warrant, Austin police Cmdr. Donald Baker said.
Under the new law, authorities may collect the blood of drunken driving suspects if a child younger than 15 is in the car. The law also gives officers the option to draw the blood of drunken driving suspects without a search warrant if a crash results in an injury that requires hospitalization, among other criteria.
Baker said police responded to a call early Tuesday about the crash in the 3400 block of West William Cannon Drive near Brodie Lane. The driver, Son Do, 35, faces a charge of driving while intoxicated, a state jail felony, court records show.
The boy was released to his mother, Baker said.
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