Five weeks, five arrests on drunk-driving charges.
That rap sheet belongs to Anderson Sotomayor, 45, of Vineland, New Jersey. The latest arrest came Wednesday, one day after city officials expressed frustration with their continued inability to lock him away.
The city's public safety director told The Press of Atlantic City that the only legal ammunition authorities have is to keep arresting Sotomayor. A judge said he did not have the proper authority to set bail in the cases, because state law treats DUI as a motor-vehicle offense and not as a criminal matter.
Only a charge of illegally using the pain-killing drug Oxycodone without a proper prescription allowed authorities to detain Sotomayor at the Cumberland County jail, and that would only be temporarily. He could be released as early as today.
Area residents vented their outrage on Facebook.
"This man needs to be put in jail NOW, before he kills someone," wrote Alex Dragotta.
"It's disturbing that this guy can't be kept off the roads, but anyone who was caught this many times in 10 days has an addiction problem he can't control," wrote Joseph T. Sheridan.
His five arrests for DUI have occurred on April 9, 11 and 25, and May 12 and 16. According to the Press, those offenses also include: hitting a police car, hitting a utility pole and driving over a curb. On April 2, he hit a school bus, but that incident did not stem from drunk driving, according to police.
Sotomayor is no stranger to police. He has two prior convictions for drunk driving, one in 1989 and one in 1992. Since the first incident, his driving privileges have been suspended 23 times.
That rap sheet belongs to Anderson Sotomayor, 45, of Vineland, New Jersey. The latest arrest came Wednesday, one day after city officials expressed frustration with their continued inability to lock him away.
The city's public safety director told The Press of Atlantic City that the only legal ammunition authorities have is to keep arresting Sotomayor. A judge said he did not have the proper authority to set bail in the cases, because state law treats DUI as a motor-vehicle offense and not as a criminal matter.
Only a charge of illegally using the pain-killing drug Oxycodone without a proper prescription allowed authorities to detain Sotomayor at the Cumberland County jail, and that would only be temporarily. He could be released as early as today.
Area residents vented their outrage on Facebook.
"This man needs to be put in jail NOW, before he kills someone," wrote Alex Dragotta.
"It's disturbing that this guy can't be kept off the roads, but anyone who was caught this many times in 10 days has an addiction problem he can't control," wrote Joseph T. Sheridan.
His five arrests for DUI have occurred on April 9, 11 and 25, and May 12 and 16. According to the Press, those offenses also include: hitting a police car, hitting a utility pole and driving over a curb. On April 2, he hit a school bus, but that incident did not stem from drunk driving, according to police.
Sotomayor is no stranger to police. He has two prior convictions for drunk driving, one in 1989 and one in 1992. Since the first incident, his driving privileges have been suspended 23 times.
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