For DUI, Personal Costs Are High

In addition to attorney and court fees, drunk drivers usually have to pay for car towing, restricted licenses and reinstatement of their regular licenses. Everyone is ordered into the alcohol education program that, in Fairfax County, costs at least $400. Repeat offenders and the "super-drunks" -- those with a blood alcohol level of 0.15 or more -- are required to install ignition interlock equipment on their steering wheels, at a cost of $450 for six months.

Pat Bowman, a counselor at the Fairfax Alcohol Safety Action Program, often asks those in the program, most of them professionals, to list the time and the money they have spent since their arrest. It averages more than $10,000.

"It's amazing," she said. "They could have taken a cab for $50."

Juan Angel Melgar Urbina has not been able to accept overtime work since his arrest Sept. 4.

Melgar is a bricklayer who came to the United States 10 years ago from Honduras, where he was a farmer harvesting corn and beans. He sets aside a portion of his income to send to Honduras for his two children and his parents. He lives in Herndon in a split-level frame house with his wife and young son.

He described himself as "not much of a drinker," but after a long day's work in Manassas, he said, he went to a bar with co-workers and had three beers. When police pulled over his Nissan Pathfinder less than two miles from his home, Melgar's blood alcohol level was 0.12. He pleaded guilty, paid $475 and had his driver's license suspended for a year, though he is allowed to drive to work within a narrow time frame. His out-of-pocket costs exceeded $1,600 for an attorney, fines and fees.

He said he knew it was illegal to drink and drive. But in Honduras, he said, drinking drivers could settle the matter on the spot by pressing some cash into the hands of the police officers who stop them. His co-workers shrugged it off. "They got you," said one, who himself had been arrested on another occasion. Since his arrest, Melgar said, he has consumed no alcohol.

"One brings this upon oneself," he said, speaking in Spanish. "Who am I going to be angry at? If they caught me, it's because I did something and have to pay for it."

For Muktar Ali Yahia, drinking had been a weekend activity since high school. The 27-year-old garbage collector comes from a Muslim family in which alcohol is considered a sin, but many of his friends were drinkers.

He said he had consumed two or three beers Aug. 31 when he was arrested by police. His Nissan SUV was weaving between lanes, court records indicate. His blood alcohol level was recorded at 0.12, and he pleaded guilty. He paid the court $475, but he estimated that his DUI cost him about $4,000.

Today, Yahia frequently takes public transportation. Instead of going to clubs, he goes to his mosque to pray, he said. And he has a new circle of friends.

"I don't do what I used to do," he said. "I don't go out. I stay home on weekends and watch TV. Before, I'd hang out with friends. I don't know if they understand. I tell them I don't have a license, so I can't see them."

He said he has abstained from drinking since his arrest.

"It was an expensive night," he said. "And I never want to have a night like that again."

Staff writer Lila Arzua, database developer Jacqueline Dupree, database editors Dan Keating and Sarah Cohen and staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.