Wrong way driver faces a judge
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Scott Arkovitz is facing serious legal trouble after being arrested twice in three days for drinking and driving; the second time going the wrong way down the highway.
Around 1:30 Friday morning, several people called 911 after they passed a driver going south on the northbound lanes of 131 near H Avenue.
Deputies pulled the car over near Stadium Drive, the same area where they arrested Arkovitz on Wednesday morning.
Arkovitz was arraigned Friday in a Kalamazoo County courtroom.
Until his recent arrests, the Secretary of State says Arkovitz only had two points on his license. Friday afternoon, Arkovitz learned that he could lose that license, and that he's facing the possibility of jail time.
“He admitted he was out drinking with friends,” said Sheriff Richard Fuller of the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department.
In court on Friday, a district judge charged Arkovitz with drunk driving and a bond violation from Wednesday's arrest, a DUI from going the wrong way on Stadium Drive. Two days previously a judge had told Arkovitz that he couldn't drink.
“We know that he was out with friends, so those friends, it was my wish that those friends had said you don't drive,” said Sheriff Fuller.
That was the judge's wish as well.
Arkovitz is a Western Michigan University student, and just 19 years old. If he gets on bond, he'll have to go on alcoholic tether to prove to the judge that he's staying clean.
Sheriff Fuller says the community is fortunate that Arkovitz didn't hurt anyone.
“Even if he was of age, this person on both offenses was nearly double over the illegal limit, or nearly triple over the illegal limit,” said Sheriff Fuller.
Arkovitz is currently in the Kalamazoo County Jail on two $10,000 bonds, one for violating Wednesday's bond, and the other for Friday morning's DUI.
If Arkovitz gets out, he'll have to wear a tether around his ankle that will track if he goes into a bar. He'll also have to submit to regular blood testing.
