By Morgan Brickley
When it comes to DUI, police are concerned primarily with the safety of drivers. However, when that goal starts to impinge upon the interests of local bars and restaurants that depend upon a steady flow of happy customers, a compromise might be in order.
Just such a situation has arisen in the city of Cape Coral, Fla., where a group of downtown bar and restaurant owners were concerned that the frequency of local police’s DUI checkpoints was hurting their businesses, according to a report from ABC 7.
Along the Cape Coral Parkway, an area filled with numerous bars and restaurants, DUI checkpoints were becoming a more and more frequent sight.
While the flagging economy may certainly have contributed to slow business at some of these restaurants, local business owners have recently voiced the suspicion that the DUI checkpoints may also be hurting their bottom line.
Leapin’ Lizards is a bar in the area that has experienced just such a lag in business. Bar owner May Ann Evans told ABC 7 that, rather than the economic conditions, customers are deterred by the police presence on the roads: “They’re just not going through the aggravation. They will avoid going to an area that’s just plagued with constant checkpoints.”
Evans and other business owners in the area have asked police to help find an alternative to the checkpoints that will maintain safety on the roads without compromising businesses in the area.
Recently, according to the report, local police have stated a willingness to massage their strategy by way of compromise.
Cape Coral Police Chief, Rob Petrovich, recently told the media that he is open-minded about compromise, and that he is considering saturation and foot patrols, which help deter drunk driving in a way that bar and restaurant owners consider to be more amendable to business.
“My dream,” Petrovich told ABC 7, “is for their parking lots to be full, for them to be fruitful and at the same time – everybody be safe.”
One local owner welcomes the new strategy. “Hopefully they’ll cut back a little on that and there will be a more personal relationship with the officers rather than a show of force kind of deal,” said Ed Sheridan, the co-owner of Eddie Fishbowls.
The bars and restaurants in the area have agreed, in turn, to explore creative ways to help prevent drunk driving, like taxi shares.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
Richard Niemczyk, a resident of Hanover Park, Ill., was recently arrested for and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, according to The Courier-News.
The DUI charge was Niemczyk’s tenth such charge since 1991.
Niemczyk was arrested following an Oct. 21 incident at a local business, where a store employee reported to police that Niemczyk was acting belligerently while attempting to return merchandise to the store.
Police arrived on the scene, and told Niemczyk not to drive out of the business’ parking lot, determining after some investigation that his license had been revoked.
Niemczyk chose to disobey this directive, which proved to be a bad decision.
Police officers saw Niemczyk drive past them at a nearby intersection, a mere fifteen minutes after leaving the store. Driving a 1994 Ford Econoline van, he was arrested not only for driving with a revoked license, but he was also later charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
A DuPage County Grand Jury recently indicted Niemczyk for aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Because it was his tenth DUI arrest since March of 1991, the charge was upgraded to a Class X felony, which can mean six to thirty years in a state penitentiary, and/or a fine of up to $25,000.
The local police department and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office have, according to The Courier-News, “charged Niemczyk with a Class 1 Felony for aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class 4 Felony for aggravated driving with a revoked license, a Class A Misdemeanor for driving under the Influence of Alcohol and a Class A Misdemeanor for Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol with a blood alcohol content of .08 or more.”
Niemczyk is being held on $100,000 bail at the DuPage County Jail in Wheaton, Illinois, after an October 22 bail bond hearing.
The Courier-News report did not mention what merchandise he was attempting to return, or whether the attempt was ultimately successful.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
There are many strange stories involving driving under the influence.
Some are tragic, changing the lives of those involved, while others, like a recent story out of Minnesota, simply boggle the mind.
In the town of Proctor, Minn., a man was stopped for driving drunk after he collided with a parked car, according to the Duluth News Tribune.
The suspect was returning home from the Keyboard Lounge, a bar where he had consumed eight to nine beers.
Unlike many involved in accidents while driving automobiles, Dennis LeRoy Anderson’s vehicle of choice was a supercharged La-Z-Boy reclining armchair.
Nobody was injured in the accident.
Anderson pleaded guilty to DWI in the incident. His blood alcohol content was measured at 0.29 percent. He has a prior DWI conviction on his record. He received a sentence of 180 days in the St. Louis County Jail or at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center, and must pay a $2,000 fine.
As a part of his probation, according to the News Tribune, “Anderson must submit to a chemical dependency assessment, follow all recommendations, abstain from alcohol and not-prescribed drugs, be subject to random testing and undergo 30 days of electronic monitoring.”
The recliner was customized to travel with a lawn mower engine controlled by a small steering wheel, a stereo, cup holders, and even headlights. To complete the décor, Anderson placed a National Hot Rod Racing Association sticker on the recliner’s headrest.
The chair can reach speeds up to twenty miles per hour, with some help, presumably, from the included nitrous booster.
Anderson’s La-Z-Boy was seized following the incident, as is common. It is now up for auction. The story itself has gained international coverage.
The Proctor Deputy Police Chief, Troy Foucault, was unprepared for the attention. According to the News Tribune, Foucault said, “Our secretary wasn’t too happy. She said, ‘What have you created?’ I said, ‘I talked to the News Tribune, and all of a sudden it’s a whirlwind.’ ’’
According to Minnesota law, it is a crime to operate a self-propelled motor vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs. Clearly the interpretation of this law extends to even the most unusual vehicles.
Anderson stated that his trip home in the La-Z-Boy was proceeding as he’d planned it until, “a woman jumped on it and knocked the chair off course.” It was at that point that he struck the parked car. Standers-by probably could have told the wannabe passenger that it was only a one-seater.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
A recent Pennsylvania court case further proves that driving under the influence can have a profound impact on an individual’s life.
We all know that celebrity DUI arrests make headlines, but too often it is the ordinary citizen whose life takes a wrong turn as a result of an error in judgment. Not to mention, of course, the innocent bystanders who may fall victim to an incident involving a drunk driver.
Daryl Reinhardt, a mother and active community member from Hamilton Township, Pa., recently pleaded guilty to driving her car under the influence of alcohol when she hit a man walking on the side of the road, according to the Pocono Record.
Her blood alcohol level registered at 0.129 percent. The legal limit is 0.08 percent. Reinhardt pleaded guilty to one count each of homicide by vehicle, a class three felony, and first-offense driving under the influence of alcohol, an unrated misdemeanor.
She was sentenced to 11-23 months in county jail, according to WNEP local news.
Reinhardt was driving her Jeep Liberty SUV when she swerved onto the shoulder of the road and struck the victim, Darrin Brown, who was walking home from work.
Motorists who passed the scene of the accident stopped to assist Brown, but despite their efforts, he was later pronounced dead at the Pocono Medical Center. Reinhardt’s 14-year-old child was in the car at the time of the accident.
Reinhardt was not robbing a bank or running from the police. Nothing about the story was remarkable, except one poor decision that perhaps at the time didn’t seem like a big deal.
That one decision will now cost her two years of her life spent behind bars, and the immeasurable pain caused to the victim’s family and to her own.
Teresa Hicks spoke out on behalf of Reinhardt, her friend: “Daryl Reinhardt is a soccer mom, a great neighbor, a wonderful person. She supported me through breast cancer and her own breast cancer fight, my mother passing with cancer and her mother passing with cancer.”
Reinhardt wrote a letter to Darrin Brown’s estranged wife Wendy, but Brown was not sure she was ready to forgive. “I don’t know,” she said. “I have to know she felt bad about it.”
It’s impossible to tell if that forgiveness will come, or if the damage done on that night can be somehow reconciled. In the meantime, at the scene of the accident, several balloons were tied to a street sign to mark the place where so many lives were changed in just an instant.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
In Salem, Ore., that’s exactly what happened to a man who dialed 9-1-1 to report his stash of pot missing, according to an Associated Press article.
Salem resident Calvin Hoover, 21, made an emergency call from his cell phone while he was driving down the road vomiting.
Hoover claimed that while he was inside a bar, his car was broken into and a jacket, cash and marijuana were stolen.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived, Hoover was arrested on DUI charges. Officials said there is no record of a defense attorney for Hoover.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
Famous actor Mel Gibson recently had his drunken driving conviction expunged, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Gibson was pulled over back in July 2006 by a sheriff’s deputy on the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles, Calif.
Gibson was driving his Lexus Sedan over 85 mph. He was given a breathalyzer test and his BAC content was at 0.12 percent – the legal limit is 0.08 percent.
According to CNN, Gibson was charged with a misdemeanor of drunken driving and an open container of alcohol in his vehicle. The open container charge is considered an infraction of the California Vehicle Code.
This was Gibson’s first offense, which is why he was able to expunge his record – or remove the DUI from his record.
He was eligible to expunge it from his record after he completed the terms of his probation. Gibson attended alcohol anonymous meetings, appeared in public service announcements and paid $1,300 in fines.
After the incident, the celebrity Web site TMZ posted Gibson’s arrest report. The report shows that Gibson did not go peacefully with the officer at the time of his arrest. He allegedly had an obscene outburst and tried to flee from the arresting officer, and then threatened the officer several times.
According to CNN, Gibson also made racial slurs, which became very public after his DUI arrest.
He stated, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.“ He then continued to ask the deputy if he was Jewish. This one night of drunken rowdiness may be expunged from his record, but not from the public eye.
CNN also reported that Gibson later released a statement after he made the comments: “I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement official the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.”
He continued to state he blurted the comments out in a moment of insanity.
After Gibson’s arrest, people speculated he would get “special” treatment being a famous star, but an independent review board did find the sheriff’s department handled Gibson’s arrest “in accordance with its policies and practices.”
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
Over the Halloween holiday weekend, law enforcement outfits nationwide cracked down on intoxicated drivers by implementing special DUI checkpoint locations on roadways.
Across the state of Delaware, law enforcement officials reported 39 DUI-related arrests just this weekend alone, according to Delaware’s Daily Times.
Not only were 39 drivers apprehended for DUI, but officers also arrested nine citizens on the ‘wanted’ list; made 11 drug-related arrests; 11 felony arrests; and cited 11 minors for underage drinking. Various other traffic violations accounted for an additional 122 tickets.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
According to multiple news sources, police departments in several states – including California, Colorado, Illinois and Utah – are planning special DUI checkpoints on roadways for the Halloween holiday weekend.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety reported that Halloween is especially bad for drunken drivers on the roads.
Across the state of Colorado, law enforcement officers will increase patrols for DUI starting at 6:00 p.m. tonight until 3:00 a.m. on Nov. 2.
Utah state troopers warn residents, “If you’re going out to celebrate Halloween, be sure you have a designated driver.
Drunk driving is more common around holidays – and police forces across the nation know it. Lesson to be learned? If you’re going out this Halloween, be careful so you don’t end up with a DUI.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Morgan Brickley
The state of Utah recently released its seventh annual DUI report, tracking DUI arrests, accidents and fatalities in the state in 2008.
The report contained significant positive developments in overall DUI arrest and fatality numbers, as well as some illuminating facts about DUI arrests and underage drinkers.
Among the positive news in the report is a decrease in DUI fatalities in the state from 2007 to 2008. In 2007, there were 42 DUI-related fatalities. In 2008, that number dropped to 34.
Utah, which often has the lowest rate of DUI-related fatalities in the nation, fell one spot to second-lowest in 2008 – Vermont edged out Utah with the lowest rate. Utah came in with a 16.7% DUI-related fatality rate. The national average for U.S. states, according to the report, is 32 percent.
The report goes on to provide statistics about those arrested for DUI in Utah.
In the 2009 fiscal year, there were 15,683 DUI arrests, which represented a rise of 386 arrests from the previous year. Of those arrested, 76 percent were male and 10 percent were under the legal drinking age of 21.
The average blood alcohol content recorded in Utah DUI arrests was .14 percent, which is twice the legal limit of .08 percent. The highest blood alcohol content recorded in an arrest was .43 percent, which is five times the legal limit.
Of those arrested, 67 percent were first-time DUI offenders, 21 percent were second-time offenders and 8 percent were third-time offenders.
The average jail sentence for a DUI offense was 151 days, and the average fine for a DUI conviction was $1,468.
The creator of the report, the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, put the spotlight on not only the overall statistical element of DUI in the state, but also on the personal impact of DUI on individuals and families.
The report’s introduction tells the story of Wendy Kerbs, a 54-year-old resident of Roy, Utah, who died tragically as a result of DUI.
Kerbs was gardening in her front yard when an SUV swerved into the yard and struck her. She died soon after.
The driver of the SUV, Richard Allan Bash, lost control of his vehicle while driving more than 50 mph down the quiet residential street. He crashed through a light pole and several trees before striking Kerbs.
Police apprehended Bash despite his attempt to flee, break into and hide in a neighboring home. He was driving under the influence of alcohol as well as other drugs, and had seven previous DUI convictions on his record.
The report also outlined state efforts to highlight the dangers of DUI, as illustrated by the Kerbs story, in an extensive media campaign.
The campaign focuses on those aged 21-34, but also targets high school and college students under age 21.
Public service announcements included radio and television ads, billboards, event displays and print ads in college newspapers. The multi-media campaign is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
By Erin K
In the state of Montana, some believe that a culture of drunk driving and DUI arrests has become so ingrained in the community that only a community-wide change can lead to a decrease in DUI arrests and accidents.
In a recent DUI court case, a surprising number of those involved in the case had been affected by drunk driving, bringing to light the pervasiveness of DUI in Montana’s culture, even at the highest levels.
Greg Barkus, the defendant in a DUI case in Flathead County, Montana, was accused of operating a speedboat while under the influence of alcohol when he ran it into the shoreline.
According to the prosecution, his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit when the incident occurred. Barkus, a Republican state senator, had been arrested for drunk driving before.
Barkus’ DUI attorney in the case was a man who had himself been arrested for DUI before. The lawyer’s case was dismissed however, because the police officer who would’ve testified in the case was killed by a drunk driver.
In addition, the Barkus case prosecuter’s deputy attorney had a previous arrest for DUI, as did the ex-husband of the case’s original judge.
Across Montana, numerous judges, attorneys, lawmakers and celebrities around the state have faced DUI arrests. Public prominence seems to play no part in the demographic of those impacted by drunk driving.
While certainly many people across America have felt the impact of DUI arrests on friends, family and community, the Barkus case is a microscopic view of a larger problem.
Montana, which ranks among the highest in U.S. states in terms of the rate of alcohol-related vehicle accidents, has a culture of fierce independence, in which citizens are wary of giving up their personal rights.
DUI laws took longer to reach Montana, even as other states adopted them, and a colonel in the Montana Highway Patrol has stated that the prevalent culture in the state is to view drinking and driving as “Montana birthright.”
Advocates of tougher DUI laws in Montana argue that a reduction in DUI-related accidents ensure a more universal right: the right to safer roads. The only way, in their eyes, to solve the problem is to change the culture of drinking and driving in Montana, so that peer pressure and community awareness drive positive change where lawmaking may fall short.
Copyright © 2009 TotalDUI, Inc. (as licensee). All rights reserved.
