Drunken drivers roll down state information gaps

DUI DWI Laws

A Texas man arrested on suspicion of first-offense drunken driving posted a $200 bond and walked out of a Nebraska jail without facing a judge.

Only this wasn't his first DUI arrest, or second, or even his third. It was 44-year-old Robert Hood's fourth DUI arrest in three states in less than two weeks.

Hood, of Caldwell, Texas, is also known as Earl Hood. He was charged as a first-time offender under Nebraska law and allowed to pay 10 percent of the $2,000 bond because officials had no inkling of the other pending DUIs.

That's because the FBI-run national computer system used by states shows only those people who have been fingerprinted when arrested. And the arrests of some suspects, such as Hood, can go undetected if they are not fingerprinted or if the information is delayed getting into the system.

In Hood's case, the system did not show his recent DUI arrests — one in Wyoming, two in South Dakota.

That lack of information is allowing repeat DUI offenders across the country to easily post low bonds and go on their way.

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