Mr. Checkpoint Creator Gets $70K

SANTA MONICA—Sennett Devermont, the creator of a popular app called “Mr. Checkpoint,” an app that alerts users to the locations of nearby DUI checkpoints, has used a video of an interaction he had with a Santa Monica Police officer to receive $70,000 from the city of Santa Monica.

Devermont posted the video to YouTube, where it has been viewed over one million times.

Mr. Checkpoint
Devermont received $70K from the city of Santa Monica, three years after he was falsely jailed on suspicion of DUI.

The interaction occurred after Devermont was pulled-over for making an illegal right turn at a red light. As soon as he was pulled over, Devermont began recording on his cell phone.

After being pulled over, Devermont asserted his right to refuse a field sobriety test. When the officer in question told Devermont that by law he had to perform the field test, the officer violated Devermont’s first-amendment of the Bill of Rights.

Devermont spent the following night in a Santa Monica jailhouse. After test results confirmed that he had not, in fact, been drinking, he filed a lawsuit against the city.