An East Bay woman survived a car crash only to be wrongly accused and arrested for driving under the influence.
Lindsey Hurley was on her way to Dublin on Jan. 17 when she crashed into another car at San Ramon Road and Amador Valley Boulevard. The crash sent her as well as the driver and passenger in the other car to the hospital.
"I remember one intersection prior to where the accident started and then I came to upside down in my car," Hurley said. "I had a seizure."
According to the police report, Hurley's vehicle was seen speeding before hitting several objects, including another vehicle, and flipping over multiple times, finally landing on its roof. Officers placed Hurley under arrest without any breath or blood test, reporting she showed signs of being under the influence of alcohol, which came as a shock to her and her husband Billy.
"I'm like, sir, on what grounds?" Billy said. "He says, 'Well, the investigating officer smelled alcohol in the car and on her,' and I said, 'How is that even possible? She wasn’t drinking.'"
When the hospital did run a test, it showed her blood alcohol level was in normal range.
In a letter, Lindsey’s neurologist at Stanford explained she has epilepsy and believes the crash was likely due to a seizure brought on by stress.
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"I've not had anything this severe before, so it was very frightening for me overall," Lindsey said.
Lindsey is still healing from two spinal fractures and going through counseling for trauma.
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"She had a medical emergency," Billy said. "She already is torn up about hurting other people and now she has to deal with these accusations of drunk driving."
After weeks of emails and calls to police, the Hurleys said they were told this week by the district attorney’s office that the case had been rejected for lack of evidence. The DA's office confirmed that news with NBC Bay Area.
Lindsey and Billy now say they're looking to take action against Dublin police for treating a victim as a criminal.
"Everyone says you’re innocent until proven guilty, but it's really not," Lindsey said. "You’re guilty until you’re proven innocent."
Dublin police have not responded to NBC Bay Area's request for an explanation or comment.
