Suspect in Drunk Driving Arrest Has 6 Previous DUI Convictions

Some people just won’t learn, and police say 31-year-old David Baum, of Woodland Hills, is one of them.

Baum was pulled over Saturday night for driving 55 m.p.h. in a 35 m.p.h. zone and for making unsafe lane changes, police said. His blood-alcohol level was also more than twice the legal limit in California, said Lt. Tony Alba, of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division.

And it wasn’t the first time. Or the second time. Alba said Baum has six previous DUI convictions.

Baum just completed parole after a three-year prison sentence for a felony DUI, Alba said. He also, at various times, has served more than 16 months in county jails for his previous DUI offenses, Alba added.

Although Baum had his driver’s license revoked in February, 1991, Alba said the 1982 Ford Mustang he was driving on Saturday was legally registered to him. Judges can choose to bar those convicted of a DUI from registering a car as a condition of parole, Alba said, but that restriction apparently was not placed on Baum.

When Officer Jim Reid pulled him over, Baum said he was headed to a fast-food restaurant for dinner and begged not to be arrested, according to Alba.

“Every time we take a DUI off the street, it’s like taking a potential murderer off the street,” Alba said. “It could be your family or my family up ahead of him.”

Baum was charged with felony DUI and is being held without bail at Van Nuys Jail.