By Topher
An Illinois DUI judge threw the book at 25-year-old Edward Clark after he hit and killed David Long and his dog Shadow, who were out walking early one morning last year.
The judge convicted Cook of reckless homicide, 15 counts of DUI, and one count of unlawful possession of a converted motor vehicle back in May.
Cook was driving down the residential street at a speed of about 50 miles per hour in Batavia, Illinois when he veered off the road and onto the sidewalk, hitting Long and Shadow. Cook was driving a 2003 white Ford Acura that he had borrowed from a friend without permission, according to CBS 2 Chicago.
The toxicology report showed that Cook had alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine in his system, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Cook maintains that he does not have a problem with drugs or alcohol, but his driving privileges had been revoked in 2008 due to an aggravated DUI. Cook was still on parole for that offense at the time of the crash.
Cook also has numerous drug, battery, and theft charges, but has never actually completed one of the sentences for these crimes.
The judge took that into consideration during the sentencing. The judge felt that since Cook doesn’t feel that he has any problems, he should be kept off the streets in order to keep others safe at the very least.
Long’s wife and the Illinois state prosecutors pushed for more, but the judge said case law would not support a charge of first degree murder. Instead, Cook will serve consecutive, rather than concurrent, sentences, leading to a full amount of jail time of fifteen years. He will probably be out on parole in 10 years.
Cook refrained from making a statement to the judge, but did tell his mother that he loved her as he was being led out of the courtroom. Cook has never publicly apologized for killing David Long and his best friend.
Susan Long is satisfied with the sentence, but notes “this is another one of those stories that starts with drinking alcohol and ends with tragedy.”
By Topher
The police often find themselves in unexpected – and sometimes dangerous – situations, especially when it comes to DUI arrests.
This week featured a number of unfortunate interactions between police and those charged with drunk driving.
In Massachusetts, a trooper was hit by a car driven by an allegedly drunk driver, and it sent him to the hospital. He was recently released from the hospital, but the driver will face arraignment in court, according to the News Telegram.
Captain Frank Hughes was in an intersection directing traffic around midnight after a concert and fireworks show on the fourth of July. The crash threw the trooper onto the hood of the driver’s Nissan Maxima. The driver did not stop for the trooper, even after he caused what a spokesman called “serious injuries.”
Franklin Morales, the alleged driver, faces charges of DUI, negligent driving and DUI causing serious bodily injury. According to the charge, the driver went straight instead of heeding the captain’s traffic directions. Morales registered a .15 blood-alcohol content, and failed field sobriety tests.
Also in Massachusetts, a man stopped and arrested for DUI was also charged with kicking a trooper and threatening him.
John Ross tried to run away from police on foot after he was arrested on Interstate 81. He was described by police as “very combative.” When he was taken to the hospital, he screamed profanities at the hospital staff.
There was also the threat that he made to police, who said that he “made a comment about shooting” the trooper who arrested him. Ross was charged with aggravated assault, terrorist threats, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, DUI, public drunkenness and harassment, according to Public Opinion.
A Pennsylvania man faces DUI and aggravated harassment by a prisoner charges after he repeatedly spit on the officer who arrested him for DUI, according to the York Daily Record.
Ross Eugene Bricker almost hit Officer Thomas Kibler’s patrol car in his pickup truck. Kibler stopped him, and Bricker admitted to drinking and failed a field sobriety test.
Then, as Kibler was driving Bricker to the booking station, Bricker allegedly spit at the officer, hitting him in the top of the head.
By Topher
In Prince William County, Virginia, a DUI arrest turned into a counterfeit currency bust when police discovered that the two men being arrested had three odd-looking $100 bills in their possession.
According to the Washington Post, police nabbed the two men on what they thought was a routine suspicion of drunk driving stop. When the police officer searched the men, though, he found several $100 bills that didn’t look quite right.
What tipped him off was a message written next to Benjamin Franklin’s head that read “BILLETE DE LA SUERTE ALASITAS.” According to the Washington Post, it denotes the bill as a good luck ticket for the festival of Alasitas, which is a festival held every year in Peru and Bolivia. At the festivals, bills of this kind are handed out widely in casinos and elsewhere.
Apparently these bills are available on eBay, from a seller operating out of England.
The officer determined that the bills were counterfeit, and police investigated the strange bills further. They found that the driver’s friend had even more of the bills, and when they searched his house they found 59 more.
According to the U.S. Secret Service, these bills have appeared in the Federal Reserve Bank 125 times. In other words, someone has accepted this type of bill as real currency at least 125 times over the years.
Federal prosecutors were not interested in pursuing the case of the drunk drivers who were caught with counterfeit cash, so instead the county will handle the case. County police were not aware of the bills actually being passed as real anywhere.
One man, Jose Portillio, got charged with drunk driving, refusal to take a Breathalyzer test, possession of fictitious bank notes and possession of a false work card. The other man, Ronald Virto, was charged with possessing more than ten fictitious bank notes, passing fictitious bank notes, and drunk driving charges.
Many times DUI arrests lead to additional charges. This appears to be one of those cases, when one offense clues police onto another and a DUI suspect must answer additional charges, too.
By Topher
In Encinitas, California, a North County Transit bus driver has been accused of drunk driving while operating a county bus, KFMB-TV is reporting.
David Joseph Costello already has a history of alcohol-related offenses when he was hired to be a bus driver for the county. Now he faces accusations that his blood-alcohol content was six times the legal limit defined for commercial vehicle operators. This limit is more strict than those of private drivers.
Costello was arrested for DUI after a passenger on the bus that he was driving called 911.
Emily Knudsen was riding the bus on her way to work when she noticed the driver, Costello, behaving oddly. According to her account, he was stopping the bus irregularly, for no reason that she could determine, and at one point he even pulled the bus over, stepped out and urinated in the bushes.
“I told [the police dispatcher] I just got off a bus with a driver I thought was intoxicated or something,” she told KFMB-TV.
After Costello returned from the bushes, he was allegedly staggering. The officer that pulled over Costello and investigated noted that he smelled a strong odor of alcohol.
“I saw his right eye was almost completely closed,” said Deputy Brenda Wiebe. “His movements were very slow and his speech was slow and slurred.”
Costello failed a field sobriety test and a field breath test. He registered a .25 percent blood-alcohol content and a .26 percent blood-alcohol content. Both of these measurements are well over the .04 percent limit placed on commercial drivers.
Costello’s history of alcohol-related offenses goes back to May, 2008, when he was cited for drinking in public in Oceanside and then again a few days later in Escondido. A source also told KFMB-TV that Costello had other alcohol-related offenses that were no longer on his record because they had happened more than a decade ago.
In many cases, a DUI record prevents someone from being hired for a professional driving job.
The county hired Costello via First Transit, a private subcontractor that is in the process of taking over the bus operations in the district. A spokesperson from First Transit said that Costello had passed all of the necessary criminal background checks before he was hired.
By Topher
We have heard before about how a DUI arrest leads to a suspect getting in more hot water about additional crimes. But this story features a suspect who led police directly into the heart of another of his allegedly illegal associations.
In Gwinnett County, Georgia, one suspected crime led to discovery of another, as a DUI suspect led police on a wild chase to a house serving as the headquarters for a marijuana growing operation.
According to authorities, Charles Byrd was fleeing police after they tried to stop his green Chrysler Sebring when they saw that the driver had broken several traffic laws.
Byrd did not pull over, though. Instead, he jumped out of his car towards a home off of the highway. He ran into the house and locked the door. Police called in back-up to address the situation, and they surrounded the house.
Byrd soon came out of the house, but the end to the stand-off wasn’t the end of the case. Police smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the house when Byrd came out, and he was arrested.
As they were dealing with the arrest of Byrd, police found another occupant in the house, Timothy Donahue, hiding from them.
Police obtained a search warrant to investigate the home, and when they did so they found 69 marijuana plants in different stages of the growth process. They also found almost 1,500 grams of already processed marijuana and equipment used to cultivate marijuana.
All told, the marijuana that was confiscated had a monetary value of more than $327,000.
Charles Byrd, who had led police to the pot hideout while evading the consequences of a different offense, was charged with DUI and possession of marijuana with the intent to sell. He was also charged with driving with an expired tag, driving without headlights after dark, making an improper turn and driving without a driver’s license with him.
Donahue also faces charges surrounding the intent to distribute marijuana. He had an outstanding warrant in another county as well.
Both of the men are being held at the county’s detention center as police continue to investigate the marijuana growing operation.
By Topher
Richard Simard, one of New Hampshire’s state liquor commissioners, was arrested for driving while intoxicated recently after being pulled over and refusing to take a Breathalyzer test.
As a result, Gov. John Lynch removed Simard from the liquor commissioner’s office, according to an article in the Concord Monitor.
While Lynch agreed that Simard was innocent until proven guilty, his refusal to submit to testing was not appropriate. “It is simply unacceptable for a liquor commissioner, stopped by the police on suspicion of driving under the influence, to refuse a Breathalyzer test,” he said in an email statement. “Under the circumstances, Richard Simard’s continued presence on the Liquor Commission would compromise the integrity of the Commission.”
When Simard was stopped by officers at 11:30 on a Saturday night, they smelled alcohol coming from his BMW. Officers had received a tip that a drunk driver might be headed their way, and they pulled the car over when it matched the description provided. Officers followed the car and noticed that it was being driven erratically, so they pulled it over.
They asked Simard to perform a field sobriety test, and after he refused to take the Breathalyzer they arrested him on charges of DWItitle. He was charged with speeding and released on $1,000 personal recognizance bail.
Police also noted that Simard did not answer any of their questions during the arrest.
Simard had been on the Liquor Commission since July of 2008 to fill the term of a commissioner before him who had retired. That initial term expired in 2009, but Simard remained in holdover status. This status allowed the governor to remove him from office at any time.
The New Hampshire Liquor Commission, according to the article, “regulates the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol in the state and operates the state stores that sell wine and spirits. It also enforces the state’s liquor laws.”
Sales of alcohol through the commission reached almost $500 million, and provided more than $100 million in profit to the state of New Hampshire.
Simard has owned several businesses in New Hampshire, and said at the time of taking office that he hoped to streamline distribution networks, improve stores and raise profits on alcohol sales.
By Topher
According to a report by The Providence Journal, a police officer in Rhode Island was killed while on a DUI patrol when he was struck by an alleged drunk driver.
Officer Michael Troia was parked in his police cruiser on the lookout for DUI suspects when a man who was later charged with DUI slammed into the cruiser. Troia was on patrol specifically for the purpose of nabbing the very type of suspect who would come right to him.
He was taken to the hospital after the accident, where he was treated and released. He will not be at work for a few days after the incident, to fully recover before returning to duty, according to the Providence Police Department.
Officer Troia was working overtime as a part of the Blue Riptide program, in which grant money from the state’s Department of Transportation goes towards policing potential DUI offenders. Troia’s overtime pay was coming from this specific fund.
Officer Troia had pulled over another driver for a moving violation that wasn’t associated with driving under the influence, and was writing out the ticket in his own vehicle when he was struck. He called for help, which arrived in the form of a fellow officer, who spoke to the driver of the Toyota Corolla that had collided with the police cruiser.
Michael O. Mageau was driving the car. According to police, there was a strong smell of alcohol emanating from Mageau. When asked how the accident happened, the driver said that the police cruiser must have pulled out in front of him.
When informed that the cruiser had been parked with its overhead lights on, the driver claimed that “Well, it must’ve stopped suddenly then,” according to the police report.
When asked if he had been drinking, Mageau replied, “Of course I have.”
Mageau could not perform field-sobriety tests when requested from the police, and police let him stop so that he wouldn’t hurt himself. Mageau was charged with drunk driving, refusing a breath test and failure to maintain control of his vehicle.
By Topher
In Pendleton, Indiana, a strange videotape of a DUI stop ultimately led to the retirement of the police officer involved in the incident.
Officer Mike Moore was videotaped by his own dashboard camera pulling over a man suspected of driving under the influence, according to NBC News. Officer Moore had the suspect step out of the car and move around to the rear to perform a field sobriety test.
According to Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer, the field sobriety test indicated that the driver was intoxicated, as he appeared to perform poorly, tipping over and staggering at various points. Officer Moore even put the suspect into handcuffs.
Then, however, the videotape went blank, and nothing more of the traffic stop or the field sobriety test was documented. According to Chief Farrer, what happened was that Officer Moore let the suspect go without making an arrest and without even filing a report.
“When I watch that I think of all the different things that could have gone wrong and affected my town and my department, liability wise, cost wise,” said Chief Farrer. The chief suspended Officer Moore, a 30-year veteran of the force, and recommended that the safety board vote on a termination hearing.
The board did not see the issue the same way as Farrer did, however, following Moore’s announcement that he would retire in February. The announcement came on the same day that the board would have voted on the termination.
The board voted to accept Moore’s retirement instead of moving forward with the hearing.
“It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to proceed,” said Pendleton Town Attorney Alex Intermill. “How do you fire somebody that’s already retired?”
Moore’s retirement benefits were not in question, no matter if or how the hearing had gone on. At stake was the matter of Moore’s ability to carry a firearm without a permit after his departure from the department, and his right to retire as a full fledged police officer with a badge.
The peculiar video was discovered during a random check of dashboard camera and police cruiser videos. Of his decision to suspend Moore, Chief Farrer said “I stand behind that forever.”
By Topher
An Ohio man was convicted of his twenty-first DUI recently, and with a dramatic statement a judge sentenced him to ten years in prison, representing the maximum term possible in the case.
Forty-five-year old Kevin J. Ante did not comment as the Butler County judge handed him the sentence in Common Pleas Court. According to authorities, they initially knew of 17 of Ante’s DUI offenses. Recently, however, they uncovered four more DUI convictions on his extensive record.
Even Ante’s lawyer, David S. Washington Jr., was surprised at this development. Whatever the final count, Washington agreed, it was far too many DUI convictions.
Ante was only recently released from prison on the same charges of drunk driving. He served a four year sentence, and was picked up for his latest DUI only 90 days after his release.
According to police, Ante even attempted to evade arrest when he was stopped on December 3, 2009. He got about a quarter mile away before they were able to pull him over. Police quickly smelled alcohol and realized that Ante was confused or unresponsive, according to WKRC in Cincinnati, and he was arrested for DUI.
The judge in this latest case, Judge Michael Sage, said that he had never seen such a case in 20 years as a judge and 30 years as a lawyer. Judge Sage made reference to the 2005 DUI that landed Ante the four year sentence.
“You served every day of that,” Sage said as he made his ruling. “I struggle with cases like this,” he continued, “because, in my mind, alcoholism is a disease.” Sage noted, however, that Ante did not use his previous time in prison to address his problems with alcohol.
In making his decision to enforce the maximum sentence, Sage said that he was protecting the public. “You are a ticking time bomb waiting to kill somebody,” he told Ante.
Ante’s 21 drunk driving convictions stem all the way back to his first one in 1982.
By Topher
Washington State Trooper Scott Johnson is lucky to be alive after he was shot in the head early on a recent Saturday morning. After all, the bullet was still in his head when he was released from the hospital.
As officials work to solve the case, a recent turn has thrown some light on who may be responsible. The latest suspect in the shooting, court papers revealed, is the husband of a woman that Trooper Johnson was investigating for DUI.
That suspect, Martin A. Jones, is in jail facing attempted murder and assault charges.
At midnight, just before the shooting, trooper Jesse Greene stopped a black van driving over the speed limit on a state road. He pulled over the woman and gave her a battery of field sobriety tests. She failed the tests, and was arrested for DUI. She was by herself in the van.
Scott Johnson arrived on the scene following the arrest, to help process the vehicle in question and to wait for a tow truck while Greene took the woman to the station.
At that point, Martin Jones approached the scene and asked a tow truck driver what he was doing. The driver replied that he was taking the vehicle to an impound lot. Jones then disappeared.
A short time later, Jones returned, walking up behind Scott Johnson, who was taking inventory of things inside the van. Jones shot Johnson twice in the head, took a step back, and chuckled, according to the tow truck driver.
The driver thought it was a toy gun, and only realized the severity of the situation when Jones fired several rounds at him, breaking out a window in the van. “I’ve been shot!” yelled Johnson, who was able to fire off several rounds at Jones as he fled the scene.
Police dogs tracked Jones’ scent back to his house. Johnson identified a sketch of Jones, who was then placed under arrest. When police arrived to arrest him, he had several suitcases packed.
Police then discovered that the van’s driver was Jones’ wife, which seemed to provide a motive in the shooting.
Jones is now in jail on $5 million bail.
By Topher
A Canadian man has been arrested for drunk driving so many times the courts didn’t just suspend his license: They banned him from driving for life.
According to an article in the Canadian Press, Nova Scotia resident Terry Naugle has racked up a total of 68 convictions in past 32 years. Of these, 22 were DUI related and 14 charges were for driving on a revoked license.
So far he has served 22 years in prison for all his separate convictions, with no sentence lasting more than three years. His driving privileges have also been revoked many times, but he continues to ignore these sentences. Thus, it’s unclear if the lifetime driving ban will have much impact.
Naulge never stayed in jail too long because he never seriously injured or killed someone while drinking and driving.
His latest arrest occurred in March 2009 when he hit a parked vehicle on an off ramp. The McMillan family had pulled over their car because they ran out of gas.
Mr. McMillan walked to the gas station leaving behind his wife and teenage daughter. Naugle drove his car onto the off ramp and side swiped their vehicle, and then proceeded to leave the scene.
David McMillan was walking back when he saw Naugle hit the car. He jumped into the driver’s seat and the family followed Naugle into a gas station.
They claimed that Naugle reeked of alcohol while staggering and slurring his words. He then fled again, but was later arrested by RCPM officers who were at the gas station.
Naugle pleaded guilty to driving with a restricted license, refusing to take a breathalyzer, and fleeing the scene of the accident. He was sentenced to eight and half years for driving under the influence.
Most sentences for DUI charges in Nova Scotia are short term, but when viewed in light of his prior convictions the judge thought a longer sentence was necessary.
Judge Frank Hoskins, who oversaw the court case, said “Mr. Naugle’s record for impaired driving is one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Julia McMillan and MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving) hoped that the judge was going to classify Naugle as a dangerous offender with his long history of DUI convictions. Instead, he received only the longer sentence and lifetime ban.
By Topher
Do you feel you were pulled over for DUI for no reason whatsoever? It’s possible that is the case, at least in Illinois, where lawsuits and internal investigations are looking widespread charges of false DUI arrests.
According to Chicago’s ABC7 news site, around 40 lawsuits were filed against Richard Fiorito for alleged false DUI charges. They claimed that he targeted the gay and lesbian community after they left from gay bars.
The lawsuits also claim that Fiorito stopped drivers for “bogus” traffic violations. The plaintiffs say he then made up false reports claiming they were intoxicated.
But recently the charges against Fiorito were dropped by Cook County’s State Attorney Anita Alvarez. She said there was not enough evidence to convict him, even with the surveillance video.
The surveillance video was put in Fiorito’s police car in March 2009 because he had several complaints about him making false arrests.
According to the lawsuits, these videos contradicted Fiorito’s arrest reports. Alvarez still said it was not enough evidence to present a case against the police officer.
The plaintiffs disagreed and claimed that the video tape proves the officer made false DUI reports.
A spokeswoman for the state attorney claimed Alvarez dropped the charges because the allegations were inconsistent and most of the drivers refused to give bloods samples to determine their BAC.
Alvarez’s chief of staff said that “based upon that investigation, it was determined that there were a number of inconsistencies. And it was ultimately determined we wouldn’t be able to meet our burden which in a criminal case is beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Since the investigation, Fiorito no longer patrols the streets but works behind a desk. He will continue to do so until Internal Affairs completes their investigation. Also, Fiorito will no longer be a witness in DUI cases.
But Fiorito was not the first Chicago police officer to be accused of making false DUI arrests. Two officers were previously accused of the same offense. One officer even retired early instead of face criminal charges and an investigation for allegedly making these false claims.
By Topher
While millions of Americans were enjoying the excitement of a thrilling Super Bowl, Ryan Larson of Elkhart, Indiana, was allegedly enjoying a different kind of excitement.
The roller coaster ride of the game between the Saints and the Colts was quite different from the cop car joyride Larson experienced.
According to the Elkhart eTruth, Larson was arrested on preliminary charges of stealing a police car and ramming it into a barrier, as well as DUI, resisting law enforcement and leaving the scene of an accident. The Elkhart County Sherriff’s Department released the statement outlining the charges.
The original call came in for a domestic disturbance at around 7:30 p.m. Larson’s parents were there to respond to officers. They claimed to believe that their son was under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication.
According to the press release, as police were talking to his parents, Larson jumped into Elkhart County Patrolman Brandon Denesuk’s patrol car and drove off down the street.
Police used GPS locators in the car to find it almost immediately. They were attempting to intercept the stolen vehicle when Larson allegedly crashed it into a construction area near the Johnson Street bridge. The crash caused minor damage when the police car ran into barricades that were set up around the construction site.
Larson fled the scene of the patrol car accident on foot, though police were able to locate and apprehend him fairly quickly. The ordeal lasted about fifteen minutes from the time police approached Larson’s parents to the time he was apprehended on foot.
Larson was checked for injuries at a nearby hospital, and then he was taken to jail.
According to police, all of the weapons that were in the car were secure, so a thief could not have gotten to them. Police are investigating whether the officers procedures and policies were effective.
Larson’s blood-alcohol level was .10 percent — .02 percent over the legal limit for DUI – at the time of his alleged escapade through the streets of Elkhart. Since he was driving – albeit a stolen cop car – he was still charged with DUI.
There is no word on whether Larson was allowed to watch the end of the game from jail, though the Colts loss may have been tough for the Indiana resident to watch anyhow.
By Topher
Law enforcement agencies often target holidays and popular party days as a time to step up DUI check points and DUI enforcement.
This was the case for the most recent Super Bowl Sunday, as cops stepped up their presences on the nation’s highways, hoping to cut down on DUI and encourage responsible alcohol consumption.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the more dangerous days to drive as a result of impaired driving. The administration notes that almost half of fatal accidents in that time period are a result of impaired drivers with a blood-alcohol content above .08. The NHTSA’s message on Super Bowl Sunday: “Fans don’t let fans drive drunk.”
The message may be working, as early reports show a relatively safe and quiet Super Bowl weekend.
Oregon DUI
In Oregon, there were 58 drivers arrested for DUI across the state on Super Bowl weekend. This figure is similar to numbers from last year around the same time, according to Oregon State Police.
There were 14 arrests in the Springfield area, 8 around Salem, and 7 each in Portland and Tualatin.
There were no fatal accidents in Oregon.
Toronto DUI
Even north of the border DUI patrols were heightened surrounding the Super Bowl. The Toronto Observer called it “one the largest RIDE blitzes in the city’s history.”
Despite the large effort, only three arrests were made for drinking and driving on Super Bowl weekend. Seven cars were towed in that time. The previous year, nine arrests were made for DUI.
Said Sergeant Jack West of the Super Bowl patrols: “We know that people are going to be celebrating and including alcoholic beverages. So knowing that, we want to go out there and keep the roads safe. This is all about saving lives.”
Las Vegas DUI
As some 300,000 people descended on Las Vegas for the big game, police stepped up their DUI patrols. These efforts resulted in 29 drunk driving arrests in the Las Vegas area. Most of these arrests came from traffic stops, and only three came after traffic accidents.
By Topher
The penalties for a DUI conviction can dramatically increase with multiple convictions. But one woman in New Hampshire pushed these laws to their limits recently.
The Associated Press recently reported that a woman in Concord, N. H. was arrested three times in one week for allegedly driving under the influence.
Patricia Mondro now faces a $50,000 cash only bail on three separate charges of a driving under the influence issued within just days of one another.
On January 16, Mondro was arrested in a parking lot in Londonderry after she crashed her vehicle. Witnesses then contacted the local police department because they said that Mondro looked disoriented.
She was then arrested and charged with a misdemeanor DWI, but was release from jail the next day.
Five days later, she was arrested and charged with an aggravated DWI after crashing into a guardrail on Interstate 93 in Concord. Mondro suffered a few injuries from the crash, but was released from jail.
Shortly after Mondro was released she was arrested for a third time. She had allegedly hit a pick-up truck on the same highway where her she was charged with her second DUI offense.
She was driving with her headlights off when she hit the other car which then collided with a third vehicle. No injuries were reported in the incident.
After the first two arrests, Mondro still had her driver’s license because neither case had moved through the court system yet.
Lt. Tim Jones of the Londonderry Police Department said “that the problem is [that] all these license issues kick in after the conviction, [and] she’s in the interim state.”
Judge Gerald Boyle said at Mondro’s arraignment that he was concerned with the public’s safety as she had received multiple DWI’s in a very short period of time.
He further said that Mondro was “an extreme danger” not only to herself but to others as well. So he imposed separate cash only bails for each offense.
According to the Concord Monitor, Mondro made very few remarks during her arraignment. But she said that her husband had recently left her.
Her legal aid stated that Mondro’s family is going to get her the help she needs. Her court date for her third DWI charge is February 9.