Can You Get In Trouble For Calling GRPD If You’re Drunk Or High?

In Michigan it's perfectly legal to consume alcohol or cannabis if you're of legal age.

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But what if you found yourself drunk or high and something happened where you needed to call 911?

Could you get in trouble for doing so?

A Grand Rapids man found himself in that position and wasn't sure what to do.

The man was sitting on his front porch on Sunday night winding down with a pre-roll to calm his mind and get ready for the work week.

Just as he was about done and heading inside he saw a blue Toyota minivan across the street slowly backing out of a driveway.

The minivan kept going and went straight into the side of a black Honda Civic parked in front of his house.

After the collision, the minivan put it into drive and slowly took off down the road without stopping or leaving a note for the vehicle that they hit.

The man grabbed his phone and tried to get video but wasn't able to get clear video of the license plate as it took off.

The man thought about calling 911 to report the hit and run but was afraid that he would somehow get in trouble for calling 911 because he was high.

He ended up taking a picture of the damage and went next door to the neighbor whose car was hit to share what he saw, but they didn't answer the door. So he went home and off to bed.

The man who witnessed all of this was, in fact, me - Big Joe Pesh from Mix 95.7 in Grand Rapids.

I reached out to Chief Eric Winstrom of the Grand Rapids Police Department and asked him to come on my show (Big Joe & Laura) and talk about what I saw.

Chief Winstrom was kind enough to come on our show and said I, or anyone else for that matter, would not have been in trouble for calling 911 and reporting what I saw, even if they were drunk or high.

If you're interested you can hear the full interview here starting at the 18:15 mark.

Watch: GRPD Chief Eric Winstrom Joins The Big Joe And Laura Show