By guest-writer
Breathalyzers are typically used at traffic stops when police suspect that someone has been driving under the influence of alcohol. Rarely, though, are breathalyzers used on young people who are not driving.
A 13-year-old boy, however recently discovered that police have several applications for breathalyzers, which are simple devices used to detect a person’s blood alcohol content.
According to a recent article in the Detroit Free Press, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against police in Livonia, Michigan after the police allegedly forced a teenager to take an alcohol breath test while on a school field trip.
At the time of the incident, the boy and his classmates were on a field trip celebrating their eighth grade graduation at Livonia’s Rotary Park.
The ACLU lawsuit alleges that the boy and his friends had walked into nearby woods for a brief walk when an assistant principal, who had followed them into the woods, found them and accused them of drinking alcohol.
The assistant principal based his allegation on a liquor bottle that was found near the boys, though they claimed it did not belong to them and that they had not been drinking.
When the police arrived, they forced the students to take a Breathalyzer test. To the embarrassment of school officials and the officers, each boy blew a 0.0, proving that they had not had alcohol.
The boy’s lawsuit focuses on the officers’ breach of his Fourth Amendment right to not be subjected to an unlawful search. The Fourth Amendment is designed to protect innocent people from obtrusive searches by the police.
According to the ACLU, federal and state courts have ruled police officers must have a search warrant to administer a breathalyzer test to someone who is not driving.
The lawsuit also claims that, not only did the police officers not have a warrant to lawfully administer the blood alcohol test, they also did not have any probable cause of wrongdoing that might have given them a reason to pursue a search warrant in the first place.
As the lawsuit stated, “[w]hen there is no evidence that a child has done anything wrong, he should never be subjected to this degrading and embarrassing procedure in front of his teachers and peers.”
As mentioned above, these types of situations are relatively uncommon. Breathalyzer tests are usually given to adult drivers when they are suspected of driving under the influence.
Even under these circumstances, however, breathalyzer tests are not infallible. In addition to the tests’ potential for making mistakes, police must also follow a strict set of guidelines when they give BAC tests.
If these police fail to follow proper procedures, or the results of the BAC test are unreliable, a DUI lawyer may help a person arrested for a DUI fight the charges.
By guest-writer
While police officers are typically on the lawful side of most DUI arrests, the men in blue are not immune to the hazards of drinking and driving.
Two recent incidents highlight the sobering fact that arrests for drunk driving can happen to anyone, regardless of their standing in the community.
First, in Portland, Ore., an off-duty police officer was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence after a local sheriff’s deputy discovered him sleeping in his car on the side of an Oregon highway.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the officer, Randy Vanderhoof, has worked with the Portland Police Department’s K-9 unit for several years, and is a 19-year veteran of the police force.
After the arrest, Portland Police Chief Michael Reese emphasized that his department holds every citizen accountable to the law, regardless of their rank.
Reese also observed that officers face unique professional stresses, and said that they sometimes resort to unhealthy coping mechanisms. Reese claimed that Vanderhoof would have access to whatever counseling he needed after the incident.
While the arrest of a police officer is always a bit surprising, this incident also raises an important issue with respect to driving under the influence.
In most states, people can be charged with a DUI even if they are not actually driving. In many areas, if someone is intoxicated and is merely sitting in the driver’s seat without going anywhere, that person may still be arrested for a DUI.
With that in mind, the Houston Chronicle, which seems particularly concerned with the criminal fate of police officers across the country, also reported on another similar incident.
According to the newspaper, a police captain in Hastings, Neb., also recently suffered the embarrassment of a DUI arrest.
Sources indicate that 43-year-old Gene Boner rolled his pickup late at night while driving in Hastings. When police responded to the scene, they arrested Boner on suspicion of drunk driving. Fortunately, Boner was not injured in the incident.
After his arrest, the police captain was taken to a county jail, where he stayed for a few minutes before being released on bond.
Local police officials said they have placed Boner on administrative leave and that an internal investigation will determine the officer’s future role with the police department.
The arrests of police officers for unpopular criminal offenses sometimes raise a bit of celebratory gloating from members of the public.
However, the recent incidents in Nebraska and Oregon show just how dangerous drunk driving can be. In addition, they reveal that no one is immune from the potential legal consequences of driving while intoxicated.
If veteran police officers sleeping on the side of the highway can be arrested for a DUI, everyone who gets behind the wheel with alcohol in their system is running the risk of a possible arrest.
By Topher
Ever been ‘under the influence’ of alcohol while driving something other than a car? Find out the funniest cases of DUIs that occurred on other forms of transportation–like horseback! From dolphin-back to bikes, horse-drawn buggies to golf carts, there are as many moving violation types for drinkers than you ever thought possible. Which do you think is weirdest?
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Strange DUI Violations
Reportedly…
An Amish man was arrested for driving while intoxicated in his horse-drawn buggy after drinking about 12 beers. He told police he was a “bad Amish”.
On a dare a man started up a steamroller, but drove it into a car. Police, realizing he was intoxicated, arrested him.
If you are intoxicated and let another intoxicated person drive your car, both you and the driver can be charged with a DUI in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
An intoxicated, off-duty FDNY firefighter stole a fire truck to respond to a fire. Police placed him under arrest in the fire truck.
A helicopter pilot was arrested by police after flying erratically. The pilot had to turn over his pilot’s license to be released from jail.
Thousands of Waxwing birds in Sweden became intoxicated by gorging on fermenting berries. About 50 lost their lives by flying into nearby windows.
To impress his girlfriend, a drunk Indiana man stole a two-engine plane and drove it down the taxiway. He was arrested after he missed the runway and drove it into a soybean field.
A Kansas Attorney General issued the legal opinion that drinking on an airliner was forbidden by state law while the plane was in airspace over “dry” Kansas. His opinion was widely ridiculed in legal circles.
In Kent, England, two drunken men were arrested for grabbing a dolphin swimming near the shore and trying to ride it home.
While in some countries the penalty for DUI can be death (yes, that death), in Uruguay intoxication is a legal excuse to having an accident while driving.
A New Jersey man was charged and convicted with DUI after joyriding intoxicated on a tiny pocket bike.
An Oregon man was arrested for DUI on an adult tricycle. Police stopped him after he rode down the wrong side of the road and rolled a stop sign.
A Michigan man was charged with DUI for driving his lawnmower home from the liquor store during a snowstorm with a BAC over 2.5 times the legal limit.
It is a crime for anyone other than a licensed dealer to bring any alcohol in any quantity into Utah.
An Australian man was arrested for riding his skateboard intoxicated. Police spotted him weaving through traffic at midnight while drinking rum.
A UK man was arrested for DUI for driving a pink Barbie car at over 2x the legal BAC.
A Florida man was arrested driving a go-kart at 4:00 am. Reportedly too drunk to stand up, he said he was on his way to McDonald’s.
While driving a Christmas parade float drunk, a man passed another float and sped off. After driving another – and its riders – for three miles, he stopped, fought with officers, and was arrested on over three dozen criminal charges.
A New York man was charged with DUI after police saw him swerving on the sidewalk on a motorized cooler.
A drunken joy rider stole a mobility scooter and ran people off the sidewalks – at a top speed of 6 mph. His BAC was 2x the legal limit.
In Spain, a drunk disabled man was stopped by police while driving his motorized bed down the road. He said he was on his way to see a local prostitute.
A German man in a wheelchair was arrested for DUI and registered over 10x the legal BAC limit.
By Topher
A former middle school teacher was unable to convince the Murray County school board in Chatsworth, Ga. to renew her contract this week in light of a recent DUI charge.
According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Jennifer Zeigler addressed the school board in tears, telling them how much she loved the school and her students. She admitted that she had no excuse for her behavior, but insisted that she deserved a second chance.
Zeigler made these claims during a fair dismissal hearing that was held after school Superintendent Vickie Reed did not recommend that the former teacher’s contract be renewed.
The seven members of the board listened to nearly four hours of testimony before they deliberated over their verdict for close to another hour. When the board returned, they voted unanimously to uphold the superintendent’s decision.
In her own testimony, Reed claimed that Zeigler had lost the respect of students, parents and co-workers, in addition to violating the Georgia Code of Ethics.
Ziegler, on the other hand, argued that she had undergone treatment and should be rehired.
Sgt. Todd Pasley, the police officer responsible for Zeigler’s March 16th DUI arrest, also testified at the hearing.
Pasley claimed he clocked Zeigler driving 28 mph over the speed limit and that, before he could pull her over, she hit a truck stopped at a red light and nearly ran into another vehicle.
The police car camera that recorded the incident shows Zeigler stumbling around the parking lot as she insists she had not been drinking.
When blood samples were taken, Zeigler showed a blood alcohol content level of 0.31, nearly four times the 0.08 legal limit in Georgia. She pleaded no contest when charged with DUI in May, at which time she was sentenced to an alcohol treatment program and 12 months probation.
Zeigler apparently admitted in her testimony that she realized she was an alcoholic. She also stressed that she never gone to school or any school functions while under the influence.
The school’s attorney, Stanley Hawkins, accused Zeigler of not being truthful during her testimony and argued that her problems could not be fixed in one summer.
Zeigler has the option to appeal the board’s decision to the Georgia state school board. Her attorney told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that they have not decided if they will do so.
By Topher
Residents of the large southern state claim that everything is bigger in Texas. A grisly recent story suggests that this adage applies to the magnitude of DUI incidents, as well.
After bizarre incident, a Texas man has been accused of striking a pedestrian on a Houston freeway, then failing to recognize that the victim had crashed through the passenger-side window.
According to sources, the victim of the accident, a 32-year-old man, had broken down on the side of Interstate 45 and was running back and forth across the highway seeking help.
At some point, James John Onak approached in his black Mazda and allegedly struck the man. The force of the impact sent the man flying through Onak’s windshield, killing him instantly.
The death of the pedestrian is certainly tragic by itself, but the police report reveals a truly bizarre ending to the tale.
After the impact, Onak continued driving down the highway until he was pulled over by local police two miles down the road after the police saw severe damage to the front end of Onak’s car.
When the officers discovered the man’s body in Onak’s car, the driver simply stated that he had hit something earlier but did not recall what it was. The police claim that Onak did not recognize the presence of the dead body in his car until he left the vehicle.
One of the officers on the scene, using a keen intuitive sense, detected that Onak might be driving under the influence of alcohol or drug.
After performing a mandatory blood draw, the police later charged Onak with driving while intoxicated, also known as a DWI arrest.
Onak was also charged with a felony for failing to stop and render aid, as well as a felony for causing an accident involving injury.
If he is convicted on all the charges, Onak could spend two to 10 years in prison. Sources also anticipate that Onak could face more charges as the police continue to investigate the bizarre accident.
While the story suggests that Onak could spend a significant amount of time behind bars, one Houston police officer warns that is conceivable that Onak simply did not see the man enter his vehicle through the windshield.
This is unlikely, but Onak’s alleged failure to witness the man’s death could provide him a strong defense.
Onak’s fate will likely not be determined for at least a few months, but his legacy has already been solidified in the minds of the officers who responded to the scene.
By Topher
A judge in rural Ravalli County in northwestern Montana recently sent a message to a state that, among other notorieties, saw a local representative try to repeal DUI laws this year.
Judge James Haynes sentenced Scott Adams, a 40 year-old Montana resident, to 15 years in state prison after Adams was convicted of driving under the influence for the sixth time.
Adams, who lives in Stevensville, Montana, has previously received three probationary sentences for his drinking and driving habits. The judge revoked these sentences when he issued his final decree.
According to The Missoulian, Adams’ sixth DUI charge violated three probationary sentences stemming from previous drunk driving incidents.
The first sentence was due to a 2005 incident in which Adams was charged with seven different crimes after a drunk driving accident. He was eventually charged with a felony DUI—his fifth such offense—and received a five-year suspended sentence.
In 2005, Adams also completed a rehabilitation and treatment program.
This incident, however, came on the heels of a 2004 accident in which Adams received another felony DUI charge—his fourth such conviction.
This crime revoked a third probationary sentence he’d received in 1998 after being charged with felony burglary and forgery. This sentence, though, was reduced to misdemeanor theft after Adams agreed to a six-year probationary period.
This long history of criminal behavior came back to haunt Adams after DUI number six. Adams’ own probation officer stated in a report that Adams saw felony probation as “somewhat of a game.”
His probation officer also reported that Adams would not stop drinking and driving until he “hurts or kills someone.” Fortunately, it appears no one was injured in his latest binge, but the judge also felt that Adams posed a serious threat to others.
Adams must serve five years in prison for each of his last three felony DUI charges. In addition, he must serve a year in a detention center for the past theft charges.
The judge saw imprisonment as the only possible method to keep Adams off Montana’s highways.
The dangers of drunk driving have been a hot topic in Montana after a state representative made an impassioned plea earlier this year for the state to repeal its drunk driving laws.
He argued that DUI laws were preventing people from going to local drinking establishments, thereby hurting the local economy.
Alas, this idea never came to pass, but it did stir up some national press coverage, to the chagrin of many Montana residents.
By guest-writer
In Bayou George, Florida, a woman pulled over for suspected DUI has been arrested on additional charges, after she slipped out of police handcuffs as well as her clothes and allegedly assaulted a deputy following a car crash.
Samantha Wilson, a 22-year-old woman, was put in custody after she crashed her car at 4 p.m. on a Sunday. She was arrested when police suspected her of drunk driving, and that is when the real excitement began.
According to the NWF Daily News, notes from drunk driving police say that Wilson, whose hands were handcuffed in front of her, quickly slipped out of them the first time. Police re-handcuffed her, and put her in the front seat of a police cruiser.
But while highway patrol trooper Ken McNabb was putting her seatbelt on, Wilson, having once again freed herself from the handcuffs, punched him in the head.
McNabb was able to get the door of the cruiser closed, but Wilson escaped from her handcuffs again, and let herself out of the car. It was about then that she dropped her trousers and began to relieve herself next to the police vehicle. Her husband arrived soon after, pleading with her to stop urinating and pull her pants back up.
Wilson was restrained again and put back into a patrol car. On the way to the police station, according to McNabb, Wilson yelled and screamed, asking to see her husband while kicking at the windows behind the officer’s driver’s seat.
She then proceeded to remove her shoes and pants so that she was naked from the waist down. “She stated that she was going to urinate on my seats before launching into a shouting tirade,” said Deputy Randolph Grob.
Then Wilson, already on her way to jail on suspicion of DUI in Florida, began to slam the plexiglass divider with her handcuffs. She had taken them off again and put them on her fist as though they were a pair of brass knuckles.
The officer stopped the car because he thought Wilson would break through the glass, and when he opened the door to the back seat, she punched him in the nose again. He didn’t remove her from the car because he thought he might hurt her, so instead he was able to force the door closed and radio ahead to the police station to have a female officer ready for her arrival.
Once at the jail, officers had to forcibly remove her from the car amidst her continued punching.
By guest-writer
Facebook and other social media sites are playing a much larger role in the way that lawyers and lawmakers publicize information. Now, according to an article in the LA Times, officials in Huntington Beach, California, have sparked a new debate surrounding DUI information and the social media giant.
Officials in Huntington Beach are considering posting the names of suspected drunk drivers on the city’s Facebook page.
This potential tactic of publicly putting those arrested for DUI to shame by spreading their names online would be one part of a broader campaign to discourage drunk driving in the community, according to Lt. Russell Reinhart of the Huntington Police Department.
The idea came up in a City Council meeting, when Councilman Devin Dwyer put the idea on the table for police officials to consider. He posed the idea as a response to the local newspaper’s lapsed practice of publishing the names of those facing DUI charges.
“I didn’t think public shaming for driving under the influence was such a bad idea,” Dwyer told the LA Times. “I would use any tool necessary to bring down the numbers of drunk drivers.”
This isn’t the first time that a police force has had the idea, and it’s part of an aggressively anti-DUI campaign.
Other parts of the campaign include committing more police officers to focusing their attention on drunk driving arrests, and sending written notices to drinking holes and bars when someone is arrested who was patronizing the establishment.
Huntington Beach is known for its alcohol-related incidents, and what the LA Times calls “a sudsy reputation.” There were almost 1,700 DUI arrests in 2009, and 274 collisions that were attributed to alcohol impairment. These figures put it in the top tier for cities around the same size in California in terms of drunk driving and alcohol-related crashes.
A report from the city referred to the situation as “a significant DUI problem in Huntington Beach.”
Understandable, then, that officials would be willing to toss around the idea of a more direct way to get drunk driving suspects into the public eye, in hopes of deterring others from deciding to drink and drive.
Publicizing the information isn’t necessarily scandalous, as it is already public information. “Anybody could go to the counter, get it and put it on their own web page,” said Lt. Reinhart.
These won’t be the first efforts made. In similar attempts to curb the combination of booze and driving, police banned beer pong and other alcohol-related games at bars in the city’s downtown area.
The City’s attorney will review the Facebook proposal, to make sure there are no legal problems with it.
By guest-writer
In Utah, a highway patrol officer arrested a man with epilepsy and cerebral palsy for DUI, after pulling him over as he rode a motorized bicycle, according to an article in CBS News.
Mike Tilt’s disabilities would make it difficult for him to complete a field sobriety test under any circumstances, and he warned the officer who stopped him of that fact.
Nevertheless, he was asked to take the field sobriety test, including walking with one foot in front of the other. As he had predicted, he failed the test.
And when Tilt told the trooper, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Lisa Steed, that he takes medication for his ailments, he was arrested for DUI.
The Utah Highway Patrol later called CBS News to say that the arrest of Tilt for DUI was not consistent with the goals of patrol and their DUI prevention efforts, and Tilt was not charged with DUI.
The trooper who made the stop, however, has faced increased scrutiny from the media. According to those investigations, Steed has been chastised in court over several DUI cases. A judge in one case scolded her for ignoring standard Utah Highway Patrol procedures, and he called her actions “especially troubling,” and another judge said that she “lacks credibility,” according to KUTV.
Examples of her disregarding Utah Highway Patrol procedure includes cases in which Steed has conducted field sobriety tests out of view of the cameras installed on patrol cars. This was not the case in Tilt’s arrest, however.
According to a DUI defense attorney who has defended clients whom Steed has pulled over in the past, Steed is a goal-oriented trooper who wants to pull over as many people as possible to make DUI arrests.
Many came to Steed’s support, as well, including the Utah Highway Patrol, which clarified that many people are guilty of DUI when driving with prescription medication in their systems, and that Steed has a long record of success in making DUI stops and arrests.
Steed was also Trooper of the Year in 2007. She has made around 800 DUI arrests in the last eight years.
The Utah Highway Patrol is currently inquiring into Steed’s actions, though they stand behind her arrest record.
By guest-writer
A DUI checkpoint was the scene of what some call a local politics power play, but the local government candidate in question was acquitted of criminal wrongdoing after interacting with police at the checkpoint.
Planning commissioner Jim Righeimer is a candidate for the City Council of Costa Mesa, California, in the upcoming elections. Righeimer was recently involved in an incident that came under fire, not for being under suspicion of DUI, but after he talked with police officers at a DUI checkpoint in a way that some saw as an abuse of power, according to an article in the Orange County Register.
After the incident – which was investigated by city officials – critics said that Righeimer attempted to misuse his power as planning commissioner to confront the police officers at the DUI checkpoint and to direct them to discontinue their activities.
City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow, however, recently concluded that Righeimer’s behavior, while it may have fulfilled some of the characterizations pushed forward by opponents of Righeimer, did not appear to show that he had abused the power granted to him by his position as planning commissioner.
The issue was not a matter of criminal wrongdoing, according to the City Attorney.
The determination came after an investigation and then a report, though the report was not released to the public. Several Councilman told the press that the report wasn’t released because it was exempt from public disclosure as part of an investigation.
The City Council voted on whether to release the record of the investigation to the public, and ultimately shot down the idea with a 3-2 vote against disclosing it.
At least one resident of the city, though, thinks it should be available to the media and the public.
“I have some really serious questions about why this information is being held back from the public,” said Costa Mesa local Regina Mundekis. She went on to say that, though the report is private because, as Councilmembers claim, it is in her words a personnel issue and a “public safety matter.”
Several weeks before the vote, however, the city released a recording of the incident in question at the DUI checkpoint. The recording was of Righeimer talking to the police at the DUI checkpoint in what the Orange County Register called “a taut but even voice, objecting to the timing of the checkpoint and asking who authorized it.”
In the past, Righeimer has criticized how much money the police and other public servants make. The president of the police association, Allen Rieckhof, said outright that Righeimer had abused his power with “thug-like tactics.”
By guest-writer
Unfortunately, as we’ve chronicled many times before, driving under the influence and poor decision-making tend to go hand-in-hand.
In a couple of incidents reported in the news recently, alleged drunk drivers endangered children — a far too common occurrence — and police in two separate incidents stemming from DUI.
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that a man is accused of driving drunk and texting, all with four children in the back seat of his SUV.
Ruben Rodriguez was seen by police to be speeding and texting on a Sunday. They pulled him over and determined that he was driving under the influence.
They also learned that he had four children in the back seat of his Kia sport utility vehicle.
The man was also driving with a driver’s license that required him to drive only vehicles with an ignition interlock device to measure his blood alcohol content before starting the car. The Kia that he was driving did not have the interlock device.
Because of that violation, police charged him with a driving with a suspended license charge.
Rodriguez has been charged with several crimes, including four counts of child endangerment, speeding, improper lane usage, driving with a suspended license and texting while driving.
In Missouri Valley, Iowa, a man faces charges that could land him in jail for up to a decade after he allegedly stole a police car after being pulled over from DUI.
RadioIowa features an article reporting that Richard Garule was pulled over under suspicion of drunk driving early on a Tuesday morning. The police officer saw firearms of some kind in the vehicle, so he put Garule in the front seat of his police cruiser.
Garule then apparently hopped over to the driver’s side, locked the doors of the patrol car and drove away, escaping attempts by the the deputy to keep him from leaving.
Garule allegedly wrecked the cop car in another town, then stole another SUV. That SUV was found in Blair, Nebraska. Garule was taking a nap inside.
The series of charges that he faces after his apparent joyride could lead to ten years in prison.
By guest-writer
This week’s DUI stories feature a poor parenting decision, and an active night for a man charged with 3 DUIs in a single evening of driving.
Baby On Board
It is all too common in the world of DUI news to hear about a parent’s use of poor judgment. Not only do they allegedly drive drunk, but they do so with a child in the car with them.
In Fort Myers, Florida, Brittney Locke is charged with DUI and other crimes, after police say she was stopped on the interstate while driving under the influence, according to ABC 7.
According to police, Locke was stopped after witnesses called police, having witnessed an accident on the highway. The driver left the scene, witnesses said, and police found Locke parked along the side of the road near an exit, with metal sheared off the side of the car.
She also had an infant in the car with her, in a car seat.
Police noted that she appeared to have trouble keeping her eyes open, and said she didn’t know what she’d hit to cause the damage to her car. She failed a field sobriety test.
She claimed to be on the way to see the child’s father, to get money from him. She also told police she was exhausted, and that she had to be up early to visit an area methadone clinic as a part of addiction treatment.
Police allegedly found a Xanex tablet in the car, a prescription bottle of ibuprofen and a plastic straw that, according to ABC, “appeared to be coated with drug residue.”
A relative took control of the child. Locke is charged with DUI, DUI property damage for the guard rail she allegedly hit, child cruelty, drug possession and drug equipment possession.
A 3 DUI Charge Night
According to KGMI in Whatcom County, Washington, a man is facing 3 DUI charges after a single night of activity.
Tommy Ryser allegedly wrecked his pickup truck on the road, where police found it at around 8 p.m. on a Monday night. Then, police received a call that another accident had been reported.
It was a red VW Golf that had crashed into a guardrail.
Who pulled up to that accident site but Ryser, driving a tow truck. He had a cut on his face, according to police, and was found to be intoxicated.
According to KGMI, Ryser was arrested for and charged with crashing both disabled vehicles, and with driving drunk to the crash sites, in order to tow them back home.
By Topher
Here’s a round-up of the latest bizarre DUI news from across the country, including an update the goat rescued in a DUI checkpoint.
Bride-to-Be Gets DUI Hours Before Wedding
According to an Associated Press article, a bride headed home from her bachelorette party was driving drunk with a blood alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit. She was arrested only a few hours before she was scheduled to make her vows.
The Seattle Times reports that she was pulled over for going 90 m.p.h. and weaving in and out of traffic on an interstate highway.
When state troopers pulled her over, she said she would be getting married the following afternoon.
This wasn’t her first DUI, and the process apparently went quickly as she was booked and released in time to make her wedding.
Florida Man Gets Arrested for DUI Twice in 48 Hours
The Gainesville Sun released a report on Antony David Dees and his two DUI arrests in two days.
Police were dispatched to a hit-and-run on Thursday, August 19 at 3 a.m. Witnesses and physical evidence linked Dees to the incident which occurred barely 48 hours after being charged with refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test.
Dees was additionally charged with DUI causing property damage, hit and run, leaving the scene of the crime, and driving on a suspended license. He was booked into the Alachua County Jail with a bond set at $170,000.
North Pole DUI Retrial
The Anchorage Daily News reports that a North Pole woman will get a retrial because she claims she was only driving drunk to escape her ex-boyfriend.
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the woman had grounds for an acquittal under the necessity defense. She will be acquitted if she can prove that she felt she had no other option to escape her violent ex-boyfriend and that drunk driving was safer than remaining where she was.
Strange DUI Update: Woman Convicted, Goat Gets New Home
A few weeks ago, we published a story about a routine DUI stop that turned into animal cruelty charges when a goat was found tied up in the very hot trunk of a car during the middle of summer.
If you’re wondering what happened to the goat and the driver, the news is out: The Associated Press reports that Fiona Enderby has been convicted of animal cruelty under Virginia law and has been fined $100.
As for the goat, WSET News reports that he has been adopted by Danny Johnson, owner of Peaks and Otter Winery, and has been named Trunk, in honor of his harrowing ordeal.
According to Johnson, he’s become quite famous and people come to the winery solely to visit him. He’s also become quite popular with the goat ladies, and is expecting kids. Fairy tales do come true.
By Topher
Finding a parking spot at a popular store can be tricky. But the spot Kentucky resident Whitney Lochmueller left her SUV was definitely taken.
Lockmueller’s SUV landed in the women’s department of Kohl’s after her she collided with another vehicle, accelerated, hit a tree and went through the store’s front wall.
The driver was charged with DUI after police found her incoherent and confused at the scene, reports WKYT. Police found a bottle of the painkiller Tramadol in Lochmueller’s vehicle. Though the prescription was filled the day before already a significant number of pills were missing from the bottle, WKYT reports.
After finding her incoherent and confused at the scene, police later charged Lockmueller with DUI. Although she had no alcohol in her system, a DUI arrest may be made if the driver is under the influence of any substance.
She was also charged with criminal mischief and wanton endangerment.
The National Center for Biotechnology Information states that the Tramadol “may make you drowsy and may affect your coordination. Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you.” And that’s assuming she took the recommended dose.
Mrs. Lochmueller’s six-year-old twin sisters were in the SUV’s backseat. No one received major injuries in the crash, though the passengers of the Suburban were taken to the emergency room for some minor injuries.
Luckily, no one inside the store or out on the sidewalk was harmed. Shoppers lent a helping hand to the passengers of the out-of-place vehicle. Once all of the riders were removed, it became the store’s priority to remove the SUV from its impromptu showroom. That process took several hours of hard work by the local fire department.
The store reopened at 8 am the following day after a surprisingly quick clean up. Kohl’s issued a statement that they were very glad no one was hurt, and that they hoped to have the damage completely repaired in a week or so.
Hopefully from now on Ms. Lochmueller will attempt to find a spot that, while not perfect, is also on the outside of the store.
By Topher
Kelly Moss, a resident of Germantown, Tennessee, is facing DUI charges after drinking more vanilla than she could handle.
CBS News reports that Moss’ car had jumped up over the curb and both of the front wheels were on the curb at a middle school. She narrowly missed hitting a telephone pole.
The police found Moss slumped over the wheel, apparently unable to stand, according to KWGN news. The National Ledger adds that according to a police affidavit, Moss’s speech was also slurred and she refused to comply with field sobriety tests or blood alcohol tests.
But her breath gave Moss away. Police report that she smelled strongly of vanilla. After searching her car they found a receipt for two 8-oz. bottles of the common baking ingredient, reports ABC News.
Vanilla extract is 35 percent alcohol by volume. When doled out by the teaspoon for chocolate chip cookies it’s harmless.
Moss was using slightly more, though she didn’t drink her vanilla straight. She mixed almost an entire bottle of the stuff with Diet Coke first to concoct an atypical cocktail.
According to experts, this is not an uncommon way for alcoholics to “cope” with their alcohol abuse issues.
Sam Palmer, a recovering alcoholic who was at the scene, told ABC News reporters that abusers would try to get their drugs any way they could, including mouthwash, Geritol, and Robitussin.
Drug counselor Carolyn Bryant agreed, “Instead of the drug that may be their drug of choice, that may be they have been arrested for or got in trouble about, they take something that will give them that same effect”. She suggested a 12-step program for Moss, and urged women everywhere to get help if they need it.
If Moss thought drinking vanilla would help her avoid a DUI she was wrong.
This is Moss’s third DUI arrest, and she has been charged with driving under the influence and refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test. She will be back in court on August 19 to determine her fate.
Tennessee DUI laws call for up to a year in prison, $10,000 in fines, and the judge may order an ignition interlock device installed at his discretion. She is also subject to vehicle seizure or forfeit, and may have to attend DUI school.
Hopefully, Ms. Moss will get things turned around, and this DUI will be her last. And hopefully, she will stick to the proper use of vanilla from here on out: Dessert.