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On January 15, 2022 at approximately 12:45 AM, Sergeant Keith Cooper of the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office was on patrol on Stadium Way near Monroe Street in Pullman, Washington. Sergeant Cooper noticed a 2010 Honda Civic driving erratically and failing to turn into the closest lane of travel. He proceeded to initiate a traffic stop. The driver, 20-year-old Annabelle Ust, seemed incoherent when she was asked if she knew why she was being stopped, and the Deputy could smell the odor of intoxicants in her vehicle. He proceeded to ask Annabelle if she had consumed alcohol, and she initially admitted to only drinking half a beer about an hour prior. Upon further questioning, Annabelle would later admit to consuming additional alcoholic beverages. Based on her admission to consuming alcohol, Sergeant Cooper afforded her an opportunity to perform voluntary field sobriety tests. The first exercise involved the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), where Sergeant Cooper observed the lack of smooth pursuit and distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation in both eyes. The second exercise was the Walk and Turn test, and Annabelle was unable to walk a straight line and paused to ask for additional instructions before making a turn. The final exercise was the One Leg Stand test. During the One Leg Stand test, Annabelle was unable to maintain her balance while she failed to look her foot as she counted and failed to point her toe forward so it was parallel as instructed. Following the voluntary field sobriety tests, Annabelle was asked to voluntarily take a PBT test, but she declined to do so. Based on her admission to consuming alcohol, her inability to perform the field sobriety exercises, and her refusal to take the PBT test, Sergeant Cooper placed Annabelle under arrest for driving under the influence. Deputy Pilloud searched Annabelle before she was placed in the police car, and Sergeant Cooper moved Annabelle’s vehicle into a nearby parking lot so it would not need to be towed. Annabelle was subsequently transported to the Pullman Police Department, where she consulted with attorney Steve Martonik and invoked her constitutional rights. Sergeant Cooper read the Implied Consent Warnings to Annabelle, and after she completed the 20-minute observation period, she agreed to take a breathalyzer test. Her Alcotest results indicated a BAC of %, which was well over the legal limit of % for motorists under the age of 21. Following the breathalyzer test, Annabelle was transported to the Whitman County Jail in Colfax, Washington with a bail amount of $500. She was cited under RCW for Driving under the Influence (DUI) and released with a mandatory court date after posting bail. On March 10, 2022, Annabelle pleaded guilty to an amended charge under for Negligent Driving in the First Degree (Misdemeanor). She was sentenced to 1 day in jail (with the option to be converted to 12 hours of community service) followed by 12 months of supervised probation, along with a $ Criminal Conviction Fee, $ DUI Cost Recovery Fee, $ Supervised Probation Fee, and a $500 fine ($1000 actual fine, $500 suspended) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider making a donation to support this channel on Venmo (drive-thru-tours). Donations will be used to acquire more public footage related to law enforcement activities. Our content is educational and in compliance with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the Washington Public Records Act (PRA), RCW . Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.
