By Mike
By John Clark
A man who was found sleeping drunk in his car next to a police station led police on a dangerous high speed chase around West Palm Beach, Florida, according to an alarming report from Florida’s WPTV News.
The man, 20-year-old Michael Fleurizard, had allegedly passed out behind the wheel of his car at roughly 3:30 in the morning. The driver, however, picked a poor location to nod off in his vehicle, as the Jupiter, Florida, police station was just a few yards away.
When officers approached the sleeping driver to try to wake him up, Fleurizard initially resisted their efforts to arrest him for a non-driving DUI, and sped away in his car.
When the drive veered out of the parking, he struck one of the officers and dragged the other several feet until the officer dislodged himself from the car.
According to Scott Pascarella, a spokesman for the Jupiter Police Department, local police then engaged in a high speed pursuit of the driver, who had turned a potential misdemeanor into a guaranteed felony with one very poor decision.
Midway through the pursuit, however, police realized that Fleurizard was a hazard to other drivers because he was driving so recklessly, so the police ended their chase and waited for the drunk driver to make a mistake. This happened pretty quickly.
Shortly after the Jupiter police ended their pursuit, they received a call from West Palm Beach police, who informed that that their suspect had crashed his car into a guardrail in their town.
Police from West and North Palm Beach were eventually able to handcuff Fleurizard, and they sent him to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained in the one-car crash.
Hours later, the subject of the adrenaline-inducing DUI arrest was booked into Palm Beach County Jail. He faces charges of aggravated battery on a police officer, aggravated fleeing to elude and possession of both cocaine and marijuana.
Fortunately, both of the Jupiter police officers who were struck by the fleeing car only suffered minor injuries. One officer did not require any medical treatment while the other received treatment at the Jupiter Medical Center, according to sources.
In some DUI cases, drivers are foolish enough to fall asleep in their cars. In other cases, drivers in the wrong frame of mind will try to elude police. But it’s rare to see one driver make both of these huge mistakes at the same time.
By Mike
By John Clark
In a frustrating end to a long saga for Sioux Falls prosecutors, a man who has been convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol five different times in the past five years has been released from jail without having to serve any time in prison.
The man, 57-year-old Randall Gene Hoogendoorn, received a sentence this week that only requires him to spend two years under “intense supervision,” according to a report from The Argus Leader, a South Dakota newspaper.
Sources indicate that prosecutors asked for a lengthy sentence due to Hoogendoorn’s criminal history, but Judge Robin Houwman felt that a lesser sentence offered the man “the best opportunity for rehabilitation.”
But despite the seemingly lenient sentence, Judge Houwman established strict guidelines that Hoogdendoorn must obey.
For example, the man will have to call his probation officers up to 50 times a day in order to meet the terms of his probation. If he fails to regularly report to his probation officer, Hoogdendoorn could face a term in prison of up to 10 years.
The judge apparently believed that heavily supervised probation would best serve the public interest, which is a decision many judges often make, as it keeps another person out of prison and saves taxpayer dollars.
Nevertheless, prosecutors were very surprised that the man left court with such a light sentence. Sources say that his latest arrest occurred when his blood alcohol content was 0.24 percent, which is three times the legal limit.
The latest arrest, though, was the first felony DUI conviction for Hoogendoorn. His previous DUI arrests were all misdemeanors, according to sources.
A recent change to DUI laws in South Dakota established that a person’s third DUI offense is automatically a felony, but this provision was enacted too late to play a role in Hoogendoorn’s previous trials.
So, instead of sending Hoogendoorn to prison for 10 years, state prosecutors had to settle for a 180-day stint in jail and a two-year probationary sentence.
Sources say that Hoogendoorn will also be placed under house arrest during the initial portion of his probation and that he will be required to call his probation officer when he wakes up, when he eats, and even when he leaves his room.
As Judge Houwman put it, the man is not “just being released out into the community.” On the contrary, it seems that Hoogendoorn will be a prisoner in his own home.
By Mike
A Phoenix man has been taken into custody by police after a DUI stop led officers to discover the dead body of the man’s mother inside her home, according to a report from Phoenix’s ABC 15 News.
The man, whose name had not yet been released by sources, was arrested by police late Sunday night for driving under the influence of alcohol.
During the course of the arrest, the suspect apparently made bizarre comments about the owner of the vehicle that caused the officers to become “concerned.”
The arresting officers contacted police near the home of the vehicle’s owner, which turned out to be the man’s mother, and the responding authorities discovered the dead body of 46-year-old Danette M. Baxter.
Before they reached the body, police saw blood on the front door and evidence that someone had made a forced entry into the home. In addition, police say that Baxter’s body had obvious signs of trauma, and they are treating her death as a homicide.
The man who was charged with a DUI is being held as a person of interest in the death of his mother, although he has not yet been charged with a crime in relation to the apparent homicide.
Interestingly, neighbors who were interviewed by local sources said they believed that Baxter’s son had physically abused her in the past, but they also expressed their disbelief that he was capable of committing a murder.
But the neighbors also expressed shock at nature of the crime. According to Sydney Swart, one of Baxter’s neighbors, “[j]ust the thought process of a child doing that to their mother is horrifying. It really is,” although she again did not implicate Baxter’s son in the killing.
Sources suggest that Baxter had been living in Long Beach, California before arriving in Phoenix a few months ago. Police are in Long Beach conducting further investigations into the life of the arrested man.
And other neighbors shed some light on the man’s past. One nearby resident claims to have heard he “got into some trouble in California” and that “there was something bothering him,” but he couldn’t tell exactly what is was.
Other neighbors told local reporters that the man was an “interesting character” who mostly “kept his head down.”
It’s not uncommon for routine DUI arrests to unveil evidence of other crimes, although it is rare that a DUI stop leads police to a homicide scene.
Typically, searches incident to a DUI arrest will reveal illegal drugs or unlicensed weapons, but the discovery of a dead body is truly unique.
By Mike
A Michigan resident is facing a remarkable seventh drunk driving charge, but his most recent DUI arrest was notable for an entirely different reason.
Raymond Kulma was arrested this week for allegedly driving a stolen motorized wheelchair while under the influence of alcohol, according to a bizarre report from USA Today.
Kulma, a 55-year-old resident of Sterling Heights, Michigan, was arrested in Utica, a northern suburb of Detroit, after he allegedly pilfered a motorized wheelchair from a retirement home and drove it around town while drunk.
Sources say that, at the time of his arrest, Kulma’s blood alcohol level was a staggering .241, which is more than three times the legal Michigan limit of .08, which is the DUI threshold in most states.
And this is not Kulma’s first run-in with the police, as Utica Police Chief David Faber recently told sources that the man has “quite the history and quite the drinking problem.”
Kulma reportedly has been arrested six previous times for driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. In the past two and a half decades, Kulma has had his license suspended four times and revoked twice, according to sources.
And Kulma may also have violent tendencies. Sources say that the man stole the wheelchair from a senior living center after “a couple of punches were thrown.”
According to James Konkel, the understated man from whom the wheelchair was stolen, a brief period in jail might help Kulma “learn his lesson.” In an act of undeserved magnanimity, Konkel decided not to press charges against the drunken wheelchair thief.
One other interesting note from this case is that driving a motorized wheelchair in public while drunk does, in fact, amount to a DUI, at least in Michigan.
In many states, DUI laws are drafted in a way that makes it illegal to drive any motorized vehicle while drunk. So, in many jurisdictions, it may be illegal to be drunk while driving a scooter, a wheelchair, or even a motorized bike.
Granted, while drunk drivers are behind the wheel of a wheelchair or golf cart, they may be less of a threat to other drivers, but they can still be a threat to themselves, as well as pedestrians.
The primary focus of DUI laws is to prevent injuries and fatalities, which is why they extend to motorized vehicles that are smaller than typical passenger cars. So, joyriders be warned: If you’re going to ride around in a motorized wheelchair, it’s best to do so while sober.
By Mike
Strange DUI stories happen all the time. People often do exceedingly bizarre things during DUI incidents, like run from the police, drive down roads in reverse, and offer arresting officers a drink. But rarely do the passengers take center stage.
One such incident took place in Dubuque, Iowa last week, when a man was reportedly arrested for drunk driving while a zebra and a parrot occupied the front seat of his truck.
The man, 55-year-old Jerald Reiter was charged with drunk driving as he was leaving a Dubuque bar in an apparent state of inebriation, according to a report from the San Jose Mercury News.
When they approached the vehicle, officers were stunned to see a pet zebra and a macaw parrot in the front seat of the car. In a picture, the zebra appears to be relatively small, so it was able to fit in the front of the small truck.
Sources say that Reiter and his girlfriend, Vickey Teters often take their pets for car rides. On this particularly Sunday, Reiter and Teters decided to take their pets to a bar that often allows them to bring their so-called children inside.
However, on this night, when Reiter tried to bring his animal friends into the bar, the owner said they couldn’t bring the zebra inside because the bar was serving food that night. This, apparently, would violate a municipal food safety ordinance.
Duly chastened, Reiter turned around and placed the animals back in his truck while several onlookers took pictures of the bizarre scene. Reiter told reporters that he believes one of these onlookers called police to let them know Reiter was drunk.
Unfortunately for Reiter, he was stopped by police before he was able to drive away. In his defense, Reiter claims that he never intended to actually drive, and that he was going to let a passenger take the wheel, but this defense likely won’t hold water in court.
In most states, a person can be charged with drunk driving if they are behind the wheel of their car with the key in the ignition, even if they are not actually traveling anywhere.
After police officers pulled Reiter from the car, he reportedly had a blood alcohol level of .14, which is significantly higher than Iowa’s legal limit of .08.
Sources say that Reiter was released from jail shortly after his arrest. At that time, he presumably went home to commiserate with his zebra and parrot, which were likely shaken from the whole ordeal.
By Mike
A New Jersey man who had already been caught drunk driving four times in the last month was recently arrested for his fifth DUI in the past four weeks, according to a report from NBC 10 Philadelphia.
The DUI arrests all took place in and around Vineland, New Jersey, where 45-year-old Anderson Sotomayor apparently roams the streets in varying states of inebriation.
Sources indicate that Sotomayor was arrested for driving drunk three times in a span of only 16 days. These arrests took place on April 9, 11, and 25.
The latest incident took place this Saturday after police observed Sotomayor driving the wrong way down a one-way street. During his ill-advised journey, Sotomayor eventually struck a curb and careened off the road.
Unfortunately, the trip down a one-way street was not the most foolish drunk driving incident Sotomayor has created in the past few weeks.
On April 25, police in Vineland pulled Sotomayor over after they saw him swerving in and out of traffic while holding an open 40-ounce bottle of beer. This, of course, is a recipe for a legal and personal disaster.
And, on April 2, Sotomayor allegedly swerved around a school bus while it was unloading children, ran a red light, and slammed into another car. To make matters worse, the man fled from the scene of the accident, leaving a 31-year-old woman who later had to be treated at a hospital.
Police were able to locate Sotomayor after finding his handicap tag at the scene of the crime, and later tracking that tag to Sotomayor’s address, according to a report from the Daily Journal.
Readers might be curious how, exactly, Sotomayor was able to continue driving despite his frequent arrests. Sources suggest that Vineland police weren’t able to hold the man beyond a certain period of time, though no further details are available.
After each of his DUI arrests, it can fairly be assumed that Sotomayor was released on bail, so the judge in his latest case might try to set bail at an extraordinarily high level to prevent Sotomayor from getting back on the road before his trial.
The man is scheduled to make a court appearance for his first three DUIs on May 30. Until then, the court will likely try to detain Sotomayor as long as possible, but if he is released, drivers on Vineland roads should be wary of the serial drunk driver.
By Mike
Thousands of people are arrested for DUI charges every day, but most of these arrests happen on highways and other public streets. Few DUI arrests are made in the privacy of one’s own home.
One Florida man, however, bucked this trend after he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol when police found him repeatedly backing his truck into trees in his own front yard, according to a remarkable report from WJXT Jacksonville.
Sources indicate that Dennis Jones, a 57-year-old resident of Paisley, Florida, was charged with drunk driving after an unsuccessful attempt to back out of his driveway.
According to the police report, Jones was trying to back out of his driveway last Tuesday morning around 10 a.m. when his efforts went horribly awry.
While backing out of a driveway does pose some occasional challenges, Jones took these difficulties to a new extreme as he spent at least 15 minutes trying to escape his front yard by ramming into trees and spinning his tires in dirt.
Neighbors who called police to report the odd behavior told dispatchers that Jones smashed into trees, dug his truck into a hole, and repeatedly spun his tires in a manner that slung dirt into a neighbor’s yard.
When police officers arrived on the scene, they claim that Jones had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath, was slurring his speech, and somehow was missing a lens in his eyeglasses.
In an effort to ease the authorities’ minds, Jones curiously tried to defend himself by claiming that he had imbibed “less than one pint of vodka” that morning, according to the police report.
In one of the most predictable field sobriety tests in the history of modern jurisprudence, Jones failed to prove to police that he was sufficiently sober to drive, and he was unceremoniously taken into police custody, where he could do no further damage to his own trees.
Less than an hour after his arrest, police administered a breathalyzer test to the hapless driver, and he blew a staggering .242, which is more than three times the legal limit.
Some curious readers might wonder if Jones will be able to argue his way out of a DUI conviction because his driving took place within the confines of his own yard. This argument, however, is not likely to hold sway, as the man was clearly a danger to himself and others, especially if he had been able to successfully maneuver his way out of his own yard.
By Mike
An alleged drunk driver in California last week committed one of the cardinal sins of drinking and driving: showing a nearby police officer a certain middle digit.
Carlos Ruano, a resident of Sylmar, California reportedly drove by a police deputy in his Ford F-150 in a reckless manner and impolitely extended his middle finger in the officer’s direction, according to a report from SCV News.
Sources indicate that Ruano was “cutting in and out of traffic” down state highway 14 when he nearly rear-ended an unmarked police vehicle. To add to his questionable decision-making, Ruano then flipped off the officer.
According to the police report, which offers a nice summary of the incident, “[t]he pick up truck approached the deputy’s vehicle from the rear, the plain wrapped vehicle, and almost struck it. When he went by the deputy he ended up flipping off the deputy.”
Of course, the officer didn’t pursue Ruano simply because he insulted them. He also continued driving erratically after almost striking the car.
So, after the officer was rear-ended, he continued to pursue Ruano as he was traveling southbound on the highway, and called for assistance from the California Highway Patrol.
However, before the Highway Patrol was able to arrive, another nearby deputy in a marked vehicle joined the other officer in the pursuit of Ruano. After they fired their emergency lights, sources indicate that a dangerous chase ensued.
Sources say that the alleged DUI driver started to flee from the two deputies at speeds reaching as fast as 85 miles per hour through dangerously large amounts of traffic.
However, once officers from the California Highway Patrol appeared ready to join the chase, the suspect recognized that his situation was untenable, and he wisely pulled over to the side of the road.
According to the police report, Ruano “was taken into custody for fleeing police officers using a motor vehicle. He’s also been arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.” If convicted on both charges, Ruano could face some serious time in jail.
The charge for evading police officers is a serious felony offense, punishable by jail time and significant fines. But the DUI charge is no small allegation, either, as it could also lead to extra jail time, additional fines, and the loss of his license.
And, hopefully, Ruano learned some important lessons during his ordeal. Don’t drink and drive, and if you do, don’t flip off police officers and lead them on a high-speed chase.
By Mike
In an incident that may support some (probably unfair) stereotypes about Montana, a tow truck driver allegedly responded to an accident caused by a drunk driver while under the influence of alcohol himself.
Police in Butte, Montana reportedly arrested 58-year-old tow truck driver David Banks after he allegedly responded to the scene of a DUI accident while under the influence of alcohol, according to a report from the Montana Standard.
The police already had a bit of practice arresting drunk drivers that night, as they had already arrested 44-year-old Penny Mormon for allegedly crashing her car while drunk into four other vehicles on Gaylord Street in Butte. This accident took place around 1 a.m. last Friday.
While Mormon may face serious felony charges for causing the accident while driving drunk, Banks may be on the hook for a lesser crime, aggravated driving under the influence, which is only a misdemeanor under Montana DUI laws.
The bizarre events started late Friday night when Mormon was driving her 2011 Ford Ranger erratically and struck three parked cars. After she rammed into the parked cars, Mormon reportedly kept driving down the street.
However, her vehicle became heavily damaged after she struck another car further down the street, and her car eventually came to a stop. According to the police report, her car was in such bad shape that the front tire on the driver’s side of her car was dislodged from the truck.
When police arrested her, they discovered that her blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, and Mormon was swiftly escorted to jail.
The police likely assumed that the arrest of Mormon put a quiet end to the bizarre incident, but they were surprised to discover that the tow truck driver who responded to the scene had also had too much to drink that night.
According to police, Banks arrived at the scene in his tow truck and was able to remove Mormon’s disabled truck from the street. However, when he tried to sweep up debris from the street, a neighbor suspected that he was drunk and called 911.
When the officers arrived on the scene, they discovered that Banks was indeed drunk, and arrested him on the scene.
Butte police officers did not identify which wrecker company Banks worked for. According to sources, police use several different local towing companies to help haul disabled vehicles after traffic accidents.
By Mike
A Chicago judge may have escaped the consequences of his alleged drunk driving this week, as an Illinois court dismissed DUI charges against Cook County Judge James Gavin.
Gavin, who was elected to the circuit court in 1996, breathed a heavy sigh of relief last Wednesday after a DuPage County judge dropped the drunk driving charges that prosecutors leveled against him, claiming that there was not enough evidence for a conviction, according to Gavin’s DUI attorney.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, Gavin was initially charged in October 2011 with a misdemeanor DUI after an alert police officer pulled him over when Gavin used the shoulder of the road to pass another car.
The police report alleged that the 55-year-old veteran judge failed an eye-gaze test and smelled of alcohol, which led officers to suspect that Gavin was operating his car under the influence of alcohol.
Gavin, however, refused to submit to a blood alcohol test or a field sobriety test. Because of his intransigence, Gavin temporarily lost his license, but may have succeeded in leaving little evidence for prosecutors to prove that he was driving drunk.
And, despite the initial revocation of his license, Judge Liam Brennan, the DuPage County judge assigned to the case, ordered police to return the license to Gavin in December, claiming that the police did not have enough evidence of wrongdoing to pull Gavin over.
Oddly, Brenna told the court last week that the act of veering onto the shoulder of a road, without any further proof of intoxication or impairment, was not enough evidence to allow the case to continue.
In Brennan’s own words, “[t]he problem I have is all the other things that we typically look for to support a DUI arrest simply are not here. Mr. Gavin was polite, oriented to time, place and person. I don’t think in the context of all the other things we expect to see and don’t see that there was reasonable grounds for his arrest.”
A spokesman for the attorney’s office in DuPage County said that prosecutors were forced to drop the case due to Brennan’s ruling, and noted that Gavin still pleaded guilty to his improper shoulder passing maneuver.
For this single charge of illegal passing, Gavin was sentenced to one year of court supervision, which, given the potential financial and social consequences of a DUI conviction, Gavin is likely happy to accept.
By Mike
There is no proper dress code for a DUI arrest, but potential drunk drivers should know that wearing nothing but underwear and socks could complicate an already difficult evening on the road.
According to a recent, tongue-in-cheek, report from the Chicago Tribune, an Illinois man wearing very little clothing (on a cold winter day, no less) was recently arrested under the suspicion of driving under the influence.
The man, whose actions certainly qualify him for consideration as the year’s silliest DUI offender, was charged with a misdemeanor DUI after he rammed his black 2009 Honda into the side of a police squad car on Chicago’s Northwest Side.
Around 11:00 a.m. last Saturday morning, a concerned citizen called police to notify them that a man was driving down a back alley in the wrong direction. The caller suggested that the driver appeared to be swerving, as well.
Police quickly responded to the call, and blocked one of the alley exits. In an effort to escape the situation, the driver casually drifted into a police car.
The occupants of the police car were further surprised when the man with the poor driving skills tumbled out of his Honda wearing only underwear and some socks. Sources do not indicate the type or color of either item of clothing.
The driver, who was identified as 24-year-old Arsenio Garcia, was charged with a misdemeanor DUI, driving the wrong way down a one-way street, illegally using an alley as a through-street, failing to reduce speed, damaging public property, and driving without a license or insurance.
Garcia will also be tried in the court of public opinion on charges of bad taste. The very bad day for Garcia ended at a hospital, where he was treated for minor scrapes to his face.
The officer who was in the squad car at the time of the collision was also sent to a hospital, where he was treated and released for minor injuries.
This incident offers a few good lessons for future drivers. First, and most importantly, if you have a few drinks in your system and feel a bit wobbly, chances are that you are not in the best condition to drive.
Taking a taxi, calling a friend, or using public transportation are all much better alternatives to spending the night in jail and facing potentially thousands of dollars in fines and a loss of a driver’s license.
In addition, regardless of whether one is driving drunk or driving sober, the use of proper attire tends to make police officers somewhat more compassionate in their subsequent treatment after a traffic-related arrest.
Fully clothed drivers, to say the least, have a better chance of convincing officers of their sobriety than men clad in only their skivvies and footwear. So, noble drivers—buckled up, sober up, and, for the love of civilization, put on some pants.
By Mike
The tragic death of a pedestrian due to a DUI accident hit a Florida community hard last week, but the bizarre survival of the walker’s dog offered a unique story of its own.
A man who was kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico discovered the pedestrian’s injured dog struggling to swim several hundred yards off the Florida coast, according to a story in the Washington Post.
Sources indicate that 53-year-old Donna Chen was jogging with her dog, Barney, on a sidewalk in Siesta Key, Florida, an island located about 40 miles south of St. Petersburg.
According to a police report, Chen and her dog were struck by 22-year-old Blake Talman, who had been involved in an accident moments before and struck the jogging woman while he was attempting to flee the scene.
After the accident, an injured Barney, a Hungarian Vizsla, leapt into the ocean out of fear and began swimmingly desperately out to sea.
Several hours later, a vacationing kayaker from Bellingham, Washington discovered Barney swimming towards him while the man was trying to fish.
The kayaker, Rory O’Connor, claims that he pulled Barney into the water and noted that the dog appeared “really scared.” In addition, the dog had several wounds on his leg and was bleeding profusely. O’Connor captured the rescue on his video camera, and the footage has become something of a viral hit.
When O’Connor took the dog ashore, his sister observed that Barney was a Vizsla and reminded her brother that the dog might have a microchip, an increasingly common used by pet owners to identify lost animals.
Shortly thereafter, O’Connor took Barney to a veterinarian, who discovered a microchip and was able to identify the dog’s owner. Then, O’Connor was able to contact Chen’s family, which is how he learned of the woman’s tragic death.
Police are still befuddled as to how the dog managed to swim more than a mile away from the accident, and this feat may remain a mystery. Sources indicate that the dog is recovering and should soon return back to full health.
Police, however, declined to comment on the dog because the vase is a vehicular homicide and remains under investigation.
Of course, despite the remarkable story of Barney’s rescue, Chen’s family is mourning her loss, which could have been prevented.
Sources say that Talman, the driver who struck Chen, is facing charges of DUI manslaughter, and is being held without bail at the Sarasota County Jail in Florida. There is little doubt that Talman will likely face an extended period behind bars for the accident.
While routine DUI arrests typically involve some jail time, a suspended license, or a fine, felony DUIs—especially those that involve the death of an innocent person—are an entirely different matter.
By Mike
When people face the indignity of a DUI arrest, they are best advised to refrain from attacking their arresting officers. This advice, unfortunately, has not reached all drivers, as proven by the recent antics of a man in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania.
The man, 46-year-old Eric J. Gross, allegedly kicked a state trooper in a police cruiser while they were traveling to the police station after Gross had been arrested under suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to a report from The Morning Call.
After Gross kicked the trooper, Joseph Wasylyk, the injured officer was able to pull his car over, force Gross outside of the car, and physically restrain the arrestee to prevent future kicking.
The trooper drove Gross to the station, and then retreated to the Lehigh Valley Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Sources indicate that the bizarre incident started at roughly 6:00 p.m. when Wasylyk responded to a report of someone driving recklessly in Washington Township, Pennsylvania. Shortly thereafter, Gross abandoned his vehicle and started walking down a local highway.
When he responded to the scene, the trooper eventually spotted Gross and arrested him for suspicion of drunk driving. It should be noted here that, even though Gross wasn’t driving at the time, his driving earlier that night still made him eligible for a DUI offense.
After the initial arrest, the trooper placed handcuffs on Gross behind his back, and secured Gross in the back seat of his cruiser with a seat belt. His job seemingly done, Wasylyk started to drive towards the DUI Center in Allentown, where Gross would be charged and booked.
While they were driving to the DUI Center, however, Gross started cursing and moving around in the back of the cruiser. To get a better look at the anxious offender, the trooper turned on his interior lights.
Soon, Gross began kicking the armrest and computer printer located inside the cruiser, though when the trooper asked Gross to kindly refrain from harming the equipment, Gross quickly obliged.
This stern warning, however, did not prevent Gross from taking much more aggressive action later in the drive. Sources indicate that Gross lifted his legs and started kicking Gross repeatedly on the right side of his body.
In a feat of physical coordination, the trooper was somehow able to pin the man’s legs against the seat, pull the car over, and restrain Gross before driving him to the DUI Center in one piece.
For his acts of violence, Gross now faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and harassment.
He was held on $20,000 bail and immediately sent to Lehigh County Prison, where the guards will be best advised to watch out for his flailing legs.
By Mike
When most people are pulled over for a DUI, they do not have any text on their clothing announcing the fact that they are drunk. Usually, police must use context clues and modern technology to determine if a driver is inebriated.
A recent driver on Long Island in New York, though, made the arresting officer’s job much easier by wearing a t-shirt saying “I’m a drunk” during his DUI arrest.
In a story that is sure to induce eye-rolling and head-slapping from knowing readers, Kevin Daly was faced with an awkward situation when he was arrested under suspicion of a DUI while wearing a t-shirt proclaiming his guilt.
According to a report from the New Jersey Star-Ledger, the t-shirt’s primary slogan was printed in bold letters and was surrounded by the equally incriminating claim that “I’m not an alcoholic … alcoholics go to meetings.”
Depending on the result of his DUI sentencing, Daly may soon have an opportunity to prove his t-shirt false, as mandatory alcohol counseling for former drunk drivers is a common DUI law in many U.S. states.
Sources indicate that Daly’s arrest was embarrassing for reasons other than the poor clothing selection, as well. The police report claims that Daly slammed his 2000 Saturn into a parked police cruiser around 1:45 a.m. on a Thursday morning.
The police cruiser was parked on the side of the highway to catch drunk drivers. In this situation, the arresting officer was spared the expense of having to chase the suspect, although the police department was probably displeased with having to repair the beat-up cruiser.
Fortunately, though, the police officer who was in the car was not seriously injured, but he was taken to the hospital for treatment for minor wounds.
In his initial hearing, Daly was charged with driving while intoxicated and, perhaps not surprisingly, was served with several summonses for unresolved traffic incidents.
It is fair to assume that, at his trial, Daly will be encouraged by his DUI lawyer to wear something a bit more practical, like a suit and tie, or anything without the words “I’m a drunk” printed clearly on the front.
The possible consequences Daly will face at trial depend on whether this is his first DUI offense, as well as other circumstances of the case. In many DUI decisions, offenders must relinquish their license, serve some jail time, or pay a hefty fine.
Cases in which DUI drivers injure other people, or cause serious property damage, usually see harsher sentences. In addition, repeat DUI offenders typically face more severe punishments than people who have committed their first DUI offense.
And, it should be noted that each state has a unique set of DUI laws, and some states are much stricter than others. Despite these variations, though, there has been a national trend in recent years to create stronger DUI laws.
By Mary Ann
Today’s college students are finding new ways to get drunk faster. Whether its drinking a beer with a straw to chugging sugary alcoholic drinks. But you should always watch your alcohol intake and the excessive drinking will always increase your blood alcohol content.
Check out how sugar plays a role in the drunkenness in this interactive infographic.
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How is Light Beer LIGHT? Sugar & Drunkenness
Talk to any college student and you’ll hear a number of ways to get drunk faster, ranging from drinking your beer with a straw to chugging sugary mixed drinks. While some of these have absolutely no scientific proof, sugar certainly has its place when it comes to intoxication. But even drinking a light beer or diet mixed drink might not save you from a hangover and you should still monitor your alcohol intake.
Do Sweet Drinks Really Get You Drunk Faster?
This is where we dive into the science. Let’s take a look at how sugar and sweet drinks can affect your night out.
- Carbonation may get you drunk faster
- Technically, carbonated drinks may speed up the absorption of alcohol, so a rum and Coke may get you drunk faster than just a shot of rum.
- Most carbonated drinks are sweet, but even a diet Coke may speed the process up.
- Sweet drinks go down faster
- Mixed or sweet drinks can be easier to drink than straight alcohol.
- You may not notice the amount of alcohol that you’re drinking when you down several vodka cranberries, as opposed to doing shots.
- Sugar slows the alcohol
- Sugar in alcoholic drinks slows the digestive process and prevents the alcohol from moving into the small intestine as quickly, where it will be absorbed faster.
- Be aware that drinking sweet drinks may make you feel less intoxicated in the beginning, but it will hit later.
Other Factors in Intoxication
The actual drinks aren’t the only factor when it comes to intoxication. You actually have a number of things to consider:
- Gender
- Women tend to be smaller than men and to have more fat, so the same drinks will usually result in a higher concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream of a female than in a male.
- Body Size
- The larger you are, the more blood you have, which means alcohol is more diluted in larger
- Genetics
- It would appear that different races absorb alcohol at different rates, so your genes may affect how drunk you get.
- Age
- Older and younger people seem to take longer to get drunk because their bodies may process alcohol slower.
Diet or Light Drinks
Most diet drinks are simply low-caloric forms of the regular ones. In the case of diet soda, which is frequently used in mixed drinks for those trying to watch their weight, the sugar is replaced by aspertame or sucralose, which have virtually no calories.
- Drinks made with diet sodas still have calories from the alcohol.
- Diet mixed drinks made with carbonated liquid may boost intoxication.
The Making of Light Beer
Light beer is legally defined as having 20% fewer calories than regular beer. This will vary from brewery to brewery, depending on how many calories they usually have in their beer. Rumors circulate about breweries simply adding water to their regular beer to make it light, but in most cases, it’s a little more complicated.
- Light beers tend to have .5% less alcohol.
- Some light beers are brewed to have a higher alcohol level, then diluted to reach the correct balance.
- This method is more efficient because you can brew 10,000 barrels and get 13,000 barrels worth of light beer.
- This is done by using rice or other grains that will ferment better, creating a higher alcohol content and turning more sugars into alcohol.
- Some breweries simply add less “fuel” during the fermentation process, resulting in fewer carbs, and therefore fewer calories.
- There are 1,545 breweries in the U.S.
- That’s more breweries than any other country in the world.
Alcohol is always going to contain some calories, so it’s up to you to decide just how many are acceptable. Remember that sugary drinks can still make you drunk, though it may take longer, while carbonation may cause the alcohol to affect you sooner. Always note how much alcohol you are drinking, no matter how you feel and never drink and drive.
Provided by Total DUI.