DUI Charge Dropped Against Caffeinated California Driver

DA's office still insists it's 'highly likely' Joseph Schwab was on another drug, despite tests indicating otherwise
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 30, 2016 10:13 AM CST
DUI Charge Dropped Against Caffeinated California Driver
Beware the coffee high on the road.   (Getty Images/knape)

He was busted for driving while intoxicated, and now, 16 months later, Joseph Schwab has had his DUI charge dropped. The California man had been pulled over in Solano County in August 2015 after it was reported he was driving erratically, and he was arrested for DUI, although later tests found he had no alcohol or drugs other than caffeine in his system. The DUI charge was kept on the books, however, because prosecutors contended his driving was so all over the place that he had to have had another drug in his system that wasn't showing up in tests, per the San Francisco Chronicle. Schwab was also said to have failed sobriety tests at the scene.

The Solano County DA's office conceded this week, noting in a written statement that it was finally giving up and dropping the DUI charge because it didn't think it could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, though it still maintains it's "highly likely the defendant was under the influence of a drug," per KTLA. A misdemeanor charge against Schwab for reckless driving remains. (A man in Japan drank himself to death with caffeine.)

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