Jake Harris' lawyer claims that while the Deadliest Catch star is "still torn up" about his father's death earlier this month, those emotions did not cause him to get behind a wheel while intoxicated.
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"This whole case stemmed from an anonymous caller who alleged he was driving erratically, but there's no evidence of that."
Late last Thursday evening, Harris was stopped by Washington State Police while driving his father's BMW 3 Series "erratically" in Shoreline, WA, according to police reports, which added the vehicle was spotted by aircraft.
He was subsequently pulled over and failed a field sobriety test. After he refused to take a toxicological test, police discovered he had allegedly been involved in a hit and run accident with another vehicle earlier in the evening.
Harris was then arrested for DUI, driving with a suspended license and hit and run.
Ritter is questioning whether Harris' field sobriety test was administered correctly and notes there have been no witness statements about the alleged hit and run.
"Jake was unaware that his license was suspended until the [officer] made him aware of it and we're in the process of taking care of those tickets," Ritter told People.
While Harris has made two procedural court appearances since the arrest, prosecutors are still reviewing the case and have yet to file formal charges, People reported.
Harris' arrest came a few weeks after his father Phil Harris suffered a stroke while the Cornelia Marie was docked on St. Paul Island in Alaska and off-loading on January 29.
He was airlifted to Anchorage where he underwent 12 hours of surgery the following day and was then put in a medically induced coma to reduce brain swelling. While he had exited the coma and began to show signs of recovery, he subsequently passed away on February 9.
"He's still torn up about it," Ritter told People about Jake. "And he feels really bad about what happened last week, but he's moving on as best as he can for now."
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio
