If you were arrested for a DUI in Wake County, the officer may have given you the option to have a friend or family member pick up your car, let you leave your car on the side of the road or in a parking lot, or he may have ordered it to be towed. If your car was towed after a DWI, you might not know where your car is currently located, but you can find out with a few phone calls.
First, if you were arrested for DWI in Raleigh, you cannot drive for at least ten days. After ten days, you can apply for a limited driving privilege at the Wake County Justice Center. In order to do so, you must provide a DL-123 from your insurance company, have completed an substance abuse assessment since your arrests, officially enroll in the recommended substance abuse treatment program, have a recent certified copy of your driving record (available at the DMV on New Bern Ave.), and a $100 money order made out to the Wake County Clerk of Court (or cash/credit). A judge may or may not allow you to have this privilege depending on your criminal history. People who have previously been convicted of a DWI tend to get denied.
Second, if you do not want to put everything together to get the ten-day limited driving privilege (LDP), you can pick up your license after 30 days after your arrest. You simply have to go to the Wake County Clerk’s office in Room 1000 of the Justice Center at 300 S. Salisbury St., sign a form, and pay $100. You DO NOT have to go in front of a judge to obtain this and you can go at any time between 9-5 during the week. Once you have your license in hand, you’ll be able to drive without restriction. You CANNOT drive until you have a limited driving privilege, otherwise you can be criminally charged.
Now that you have your license in hand, you need to find your car. Start with the agency that arrested you — call their non-emergency line and ask them where your car is being stored, or what tow service they used the date of your arrest. Multiple tow services have contracts with local law enforcement agency. Your car might be stored at the Wake County Detention Center Annex on Hammond Road in Raleigh. Contact the jail for more information about how to get your vehicle back.
If you have been charged with driving under the influence in Cary, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Wake Forest, Garner, or Apex, contact attorney William Pruden for a free consultation at 919-880-2124.