"I'm floored that they didn't haul him off to jail. Has anyone else ever had anything like this happen? What can happen next, or does it end up being a wash with the police?"
Me too. I had a similar experience with my boyfriend about 3 years ago. He had dropped his daughter off at a birthday party, and we were going to pick her up. I didn't want to drive because I had just recovered from an illness and had just that day taken some visual tests to check how good my eyes were while driving. He agreed to drive TO the DQ if I could drive back. I should have known...
We were just turning into the complex, and my BF almost went on the left side of the median. He was pulled over and the cop asked him how much he's had to drink. He said: "well...nothin, really" and the cop asked him if it was his final answer. (he admitted to drinking a very small amount, earlier)
He did all the field sobriety tests and then the breathalyzer, and blew a .11 (Our state is .08)
I was in a full on panic attack and about to pee my pants when the cop came over and told me that he was going to let him go if I agreed to drive.
I couldn't believe it. He still hasn't gotten a DUI and he drives drunk all the time. Sometimes to the liquor store when he's run out of booze, and sometimes he parks the car a few blocks down so he doesn't have to walk the entire way home from the bar. He somehow makes it home, and then can hardly stand.
I wish he would have gotten a DUI that day, but I don't know if it would have been enough.