By Michael
English cricketer Graeme Swann was recently stopped for drunk driving at 3 in the morning in Nottingham, England.
His excuse for driving under the influence? His cat, which had gotten lodged underneath the floor of his home.
According to his story, as reported by the Telegraph, Swann had returned home from a birthday celebration with his wife at the late hour, and on arriving home found that his kitten was stuck under the floor.
Swann then, according to his side of things, rushed to drive to a 24-hour supermarket to buy some tools to help free his unlucky feline.
Police stopped Swann’s white Porsche Cayenne because there had been robberies in the neighborhood recently. Before the stop was made, police report that Swann accelerated “at speed” before the officer put on his flashing lights and the cricketer stopped.
“A male got out of the driver’s seat,” says Pc Steven Denniss. “I saw something in his right hand and saw they were a set of screwdrivers.”
Swann told the officer about his trapped cat, and according to the report his speech was slightly slurred. Swann apologized and told the officer that he knew that he should not have been driving, but that he “only went to Asda to get some screwdrivers to get the cat out.”
Another officer on the scene reported that he thought that, given the robberies in the neighborhood, she suspected that they had another thief on their hands.
Swann told police that the screwdrivers were not what they thought, and that they should call his wife to confirm his story. Police put a call in for a sergeant to stop by the athlete’s home and make sure that the cat was alright.
“[Swann] was very chatty,” the report continued. “He said he had been out celebrating his birthday with his partner. Mr. Swann was in a panic and seemed very concerned about the cat.”
According to the court that heard the case, Swann was “borderline” over the legal drunk driving limit. In England, the legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
Swann was named England’s cricketer of the year this year. He is a bowler on the English national team, and took 10 wickets in a test in Bangladesh in March, which propelled him to the award.
No word on whether police ever caught the cat burglars terrorizing the neighborhood, but it’s probably a safe bet that the cat itself was fine.
By Michael
Jamie Hicks was driving erratically when her daughter called police from the backseat of the car to report her mother driving drunk with herself and her 10 year old brother in the car.
Hicks was driving down I-84 and was weaving in and out of traffic. According to CNN, Hicks’ daughter was frantic the first time she called, because her mother was “driving erratically and speaking incoherently.”
The cell phone cut out, which prompted 911 operators to call back several times, trying to reach Hicks’ daughter so that the car remained monitored. By the time, they managed to contact her again, all they heard was an argument.
Hicks was apparently furious at her daughter for telling the police about her intoxicated state. Thankfully, the car was pulled over by this time. Operators for 911 were able to locate the cell phone signal of the vehicle and the police arrived soon after.
According to the New York Post, Hicks made some admissions to the police about the fact that she had been drinking. Her blood alcohol level was .18, which is more than twice the legal limit of .08 in New York State.
Hicks was charged with a felony DUI for violating Leandra’s Law, a New York statute that makes driving intoxicated with children in the vehicle a felony. She has been released on $2,000 bail and is due back in court next month. The children have been released into their grandparents care, according to ABClocal.com
Stephen Hicks, the grandfather, is quoted as saying “The family is very grateful my granddaughter had the common sense to make that call . . . The situation is — how can I put it — a terrible lapse in judgment.”
Hicks had been driving her children back from the grandparents home in the first place. The drive between Southbury, Connecticut where the grandparents live and Brewster, New York, where Hicks was arrested is about 45 minutes long.
Regardless, this twelve year old girl is incredibly brave to go against her mother and do what was best for everyone in the car. Police will not be releasing the tapes, but they do recognize the fact that if more children “told” on their parents there may be fewer DUI crashes.
The bottom line is that if you see someone behaving as though they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, do not let them behind the wheel.
By Michael
When there is a chance to affirm justice, and to see that a criminal gets their due, it is often the victim of a crime who raises the loudest voice and brings safety and security concerns into the public sphere.
That is the case in Tennessee, as a woman who had to struggle to survive after being hit by a drunk driver is raising the alarm and attempting to keep the perpetrator of that DUI behind bars.
Eveylen Turner, of Clarksville, Tennessee, was in a coma for three weeks after Joseph Chimahosky crashed into her. Chimahosky was drunk when he hit Turner. He was found guilty of the crime, and he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison.
He has so far served five months of that sentence as part of his DUI penalties, but is now facing a parole board that will determine if he stays inside the joint or heads back out into the world.
With the parole hearing offering a place for Turner to state her views and potentially impact his stay in prison, Turner vowed to Channel 4 News in Nashville that she would do whatever it would take to keep Chimahosky behind bars.
“I don’t think he has served his time,” said the victim of the man’s drunk driving crash. “I think that he will get out and do the same again. The next person might not be as lucky as me.”
This was not Chimahosky’s first conviction for drunk driving, either. He had two previous convictions for DUI before his third, in the crash that almost killed an innocent person.
Turner made sure to be at Chimajosky’s parole hearing recently, bringing along pictures, X-rays and her medical bills, which totaled more than $1 million, as she built her case against him.
According to Channel 4 News, her and her family pleaded with the hearings officer to keep Chimahosky in jail.
Assistant District Attorney Chris Dotson held a similar position. “I have no faith in him getting out of here,” he said, “and endangering everybody in the roadway in this county.”
Chimahosky has been in trouble even while in jail. There are reports of an incident on four occasions. He told the parole officers that “not a day goes by I don’t think about my actions. As much as I want to, I can’t change what happened that night or what bad decisions I made that night, but I can change the decisions I make in the future.”
The parole board’s decision should take 3 to 4 weeks.
By Michael
Starting soon, Ontario will initiate the most strict age restrictions on DUI and drunk driving in Canada.
The new DUI laws will kick in on August 1, according to an article in The Waterloo Region-Record.
Under the new laws, drivers under the age of 22 won’t be able to drink a drop of alcohol, or take a single sip, before they drive a car.
The announcement came down from Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne. Drivers under 21 won’t be allowed to have any alcohol in their blood while they are driving, regardless of what type of driver’s license they have.
Canada has a graduated series of licenses leading up to the G license, which allows drivers to operate any car, van or small truck and trailer up to a certain size. The G1 license allows a driver to drive in the presence of a fully licensed driver who has at least four years of driving experience.
A G2 license allows a driver to drive without accompaniment, but it comes with other restrictions on the number of passengers and the time of night they can carry passengers.
Even before the new legislation goes into effect, G1 and G2 drivers were not allowed to have any alcohol in their system when they are behind the wheel. With the new laws, only G license holders who are over the age of 21 are allowed to have alcohol in their system that does not exceed the legal blood-alcohol limit of .05 percent.
The legislation is only now taking effect, after having been passed back in 2009.
There was dispute surrounding the legislation, and lawmakers removed a provision that would have limited the number of passengers that a teenage driver could have in the car.
Drivers who are caught violating the new law will have their license immediately suspended for 24 hours, and they will face a future suspension and a possible fine of up to $500 Canadian dollars.
Emna Dhahak, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation, told The Waterloo Region-Record that the legislation is “based on sound research and analysis.”
16-year-old Easton Page agreed with the law. “Mixing alcohol and young drivers doesn’t usually work out,” he said. “If you’re going to be behind the wheel you need to be completely in the right mind and focus on what you’re doing. You can’t have that taken away from you.”
Another young person felt that the law may single out young people. “I think that it’s a really good idea for people who are just learning to drive,” said Meghan Garber. “But I think it’s unfair how they target the younger people.”
Andy Murie, who is CEO of MADD Canada, offered that skeptics should check the numbers.
Those aged 16 to 24 represent 13 percent of the Canadian population, but account for 33 percent of DUI deaths. “They don’t just kill themselves,” said Murie. “They kill passengers, their friends, and they kill innocent people. They don’t get to choose when this is their performance.”
Accord to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the peak ages for DUI collisions are between 19 and 21.
By Michael
It seems on the surface that there have been a lot of celebrity DUIs lately, whether you’re talking about Chris Klein, Lindsay Lohan, Motley Crue musician Vince Neil or any one of several stars from “The Hills.”
So what’s the deal with all of the celebrity DUI arrests? Fox411 digs into this question in a recent article. In it, they ask whether the uptick in offenses has to do with more celebrities breaking the law, or with law enforcement techniques that are busting more DUI offenders in general.
According to California DUI lawyer Neil Shouse, “There has been a prominent step up in law enforcement. A lot more people call in to report drunk drivers and there are a lot more DUI checkpoints. The California Highway Patrol has also become much more aggressive.”
Shouse also cited an increase in funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to curb DUI, which we have covered on the blog before.
A representative from the LAPD confirmed the increase in police presence working to curb drunk driving.
Despite the higher levels of prevention and enforcement, one would think that celebrities could afford to take cabs or get one of the members of their entourage to be the designated driver for the night. However, that’s not always the case.
One star, actor Kiefer Sutherland, turned down the opportunity to have a personal driver take him home on the night that he was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
According to some, there are psychological forces at play when it comes to celebrities who are willing to risk driving while drunk.
DUI attorney Shouse told Fox411 that “stars often see themselves as having a sense of immunity and a very dangerous false sense of security.” New Jersey lawyer Darren Del Sardo suggested that celebrities might drink to escape the daily scrutiny that a modern life in the spotlight can entail.
Entertainment reporter Scott Huver offered a cynical attitude: “There is a breed of young star who, seeing the press that Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan generate from their legal problems, somehow believes any publicity is somehow good publicity.”
It is perhaps hard to imagine how the legal repercussions of a DUI could help a young performer’s career, but in a way that may be what the public finds so attractive about the Hollywood set, that being their unpredictability.
By Topher
University of Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans has since issued a public apology and resigned from his position following his arrest on DUI charges, according to the Atlanta Journal-Consititution.
The resignation followed a conference call that Evans had with members of the school’s executive committee of the athletic association’s board of directors. Evans offered his “sincerest apology” to University of Georgia fans, student-athletes, coaches and officials, as well as to his wife.
“It had been my hope since taking the job in 2004 that I would have a long career at UGA,” Evans said. “But because of a serious mistake in judgment, that won’t be the case, and I understand that I have a long road to rebuilding my reputation and career.”
Evans, who was only 34-years-old when he was hired as the school’s athletic director in 2004, was arrested in Atlanta, late at night. He was charged with DUI and with failure to maintain a lane. A companion of his was also arrested at the time, for disorderly conduct. Evans claimed that the woman, Courtney Fuhrmann, was just a friend of his, while Fuhrmann said that she had been seeing the athletic director for “only a week or so,” according to the Associated Press.
Evans recently met with a lawyer, Edward Tolley, of the Athens, Georgia, law firm Cook, Noell, Tolley, Bates and Michael.
“I explained to Damon in general terms what the law is,” said Tolley. “I’m sending him to somebody who is an expert with the law in this area and familiar with the Atlanta judicial system. Local representation is important in cases like this.”
Tolley is associated with the Georgia Athletic Association, so he recommended that Evans seek individual counsel to handle the DUI case. Tolley recommended the lawyer Steve Weiner, whom he called an expert in the field of DUI arrest.
Evans, who is married with two kids, was the first African-American athletic director hired at the University of Georgia. There is no word from UGA officials about a replacement for Evans in the athletic director position.
Evans will receive three months in severance pay after his resignation, as well as a $100,000 longevity bonus.
By Michael
With the extended run of poor play and shabby team management the Detroit Lions have subjected their fans to, one might think that the executives responsible would do their best to avoid any more negative press.
But Detroit Lions team president Tom Lewand finds himself in hot water after a DUI arrest after failing a field sobriety test and registering a blood-alcohol content that was more than twice the legal limit.
Lewand was pulled over by police after they saw that he was driving erratically. Lewand told the deputies that pulled him over that he was the designated driver, and that he had not had a drink in a year and a half. Lewand’s story was that he had driven to a bar to pick up a friend.
The deputies smelled alcohol coming from the driver’s side of the vehicle, despite the story that Lewand provided.
The police report described Lewand’s eyes as “glossy and bloodshot.” When Lewand was subjected to field sobriety tests, he could not, according to reports, walk heel to toe, balance on one leg, or touch his finger to his nose.
Lewand then took several breath tests, on which he registered a .21 and a .20 blood-alcohol content.
Lewand apologized for his behavior in a statement that he released over the weekend.
According to the Detroit Free-Press, Lewand had been participating in alcohol abuse treatment for several months preceding the arrest.
Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the National Football League, said that he plans on talking to Lewand about the arrest. Goodell has played a major role in disciplinary negotiations in more notorious cases like that of Michael Vick and his dog fighting conviction.
“Our policies apply to everyone,” said Goodell. “Yours truly, club presidents, players, coaches, everybody involved in the NFL. I think Tom recognizes that and, of course, I will speak to him in the near future, and we’ll be gathering the facts. Everybody’s accountable, and everyone’s responsible.”
Lewand had been in the area around Houghton Lake for a charity golf tournament, along with several members of the Lions football team.
By Michael
Some people assume if they’re not driving a car they can’t get arrested for DUI. That’s simply not the case, as the following folks found out during some unusual DUI arrests.
If you are driving any motorized vehicle drunk you could face DUI penalties. That’s what happened in these separate strange DUI stories involving a basketball player and a golf car, a moped and a wheelchair on the highway.
- J.J. Hones will not be returning to the Stanford Cardinals for a fifth season after she found driving a golf cart in a “wreckless manner,” according to the NCAA’s website. After leading the police on a chase around the Stanford campus, she was arrested after failing a field sobriety test, and was released on bond.
- An Australia man is giving new meaning to “asleep at the wheel.” The AP reports a man making a nine-mile trip from his home to a friend’s house was arrested after he was found sleeping on the highway exit ramp - in a motorized wheelchair. He was arrested and charged with DUI after registering a blood alcohol reading of 0.301. The man was found about 10 a.m. on a Friday morning.
- Preferring a more conventional form of transportation , a 37-year-old Maryland man led police on a chase before crashing his moped. WGMD reports the moped driver was not injured. He was committed to Sussex County Correctional and charged with resisting arrest, a third DUI and other minor charges.
- Some food might taste better after a few beers, but that doesn’t mean you should drive to go get it. A Tennessee woman learned that the hard way after they decided to go to Taco Bell for a late night snack and passed out behind the wheel while in the drive through lane. The vehicle apparently contained “several open beer cases” and pills that were not prescribed to any of the passengers, reports the AP. The police arrested the occupants of the vehicle.
So be careful this summer, and don’t let someone talk you into riding, oh say, a motorized couch to the bar for a couple cold ones.
By Michael
Thomas Kinkade is known as the Painter of Light for his luminous, other-wordly paintings of rustic village scenes and spiritual scenery.
But the picture wasn’t so rosy for the famous artist when he was arrested for DUI in Carmel, California, recently, according to the Monterey Herald.
Kinkade was driving his 2006 Mercedes Benz just after nine o’clock in the evening on a Friday when police pulled him over because the car did not have a front license plate on it. When officers approached the vehicle, they could smell alcohol coming from the driver, Kinkade.
Officers called in the California Highway Patrol, who proceeded with their investigation for driving under the influence. A CHP officer gave Kinkade a field sobriety test, according to the CHP.
Kinkade, though polite and cooperative, did register “signs of impairment” in the judgment of the officer who was giving the field sobriety test.
The Painter of Light was then arrested and taken to a medical center, where the results of his blood-alcohol content were measured, and from which the results are pending. Kinkade was booked in jail and released on bail.
Kinkade is a resident of Carmel. The news came after the recent story that his production company was filling for bankruptcy.
More Celebrity DUI News
In another job for the California Highway Patrol, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald was arrested for suspicion of DUI on a recent Saturday evening. McDonald was allegedly driving 94 miles per hour in a 65 mph zone when he was pulled over.
He was driving a black BMW, and police noticed an odor of alcohol in the car when he approached the driver’s side. While it’s not known if McDonald took a breath test or a blood-alcohol content test, he did take a field sobriety test, and was arrested on suspicion of DUI after that point. He was booked into county jail and released soon after.
According to the 49ers, the 25-year-old McDonald quickly informed them of the incident. He was present at their most recent practice the morning after the arrest. He also apologized for his actions.
“My intent is just to come out here and work hard and try to win ball games this year,” he said. “And I don’t want this to be a distraction for the fans, my family, my teammates. That’s pretty much it.”
This wasn’t the first brush with the law at NFL training camp. In 2006, another 49er was stopped for speeding in the area. Receiver Antonio Bryant was driving his orange Lamborghini over 100 miles per hour when he passed a police cruiser on the highway. Bryant was so belligerent that he had to be held down with restraints. The charges were later dropped, though Bryant was suspended for four games.
By Michael
If you watch the news tickers as we do, there never seems to be a shortage of news stories that chronicle the strange and precarious situations that result from the unfortunate decisions of drunk drivers
This week’s round-up features the same collection of oddities and unfortunate incidents from across the country.
New York: After Liver Transplant, a DUI
In New York state, a man was arrested for and admitted to driving while intoxicated after he injured a pedestrian and ran his vehicle into several other cars back in March of this year. He was driving with a blood-alcohol content that was seven times more than the legal limit.
The 32-year-old was the recent recipient of a transplanted liver. He plead guilty to aggravated drunk driving, reported WIVB.
Idaho: DUI Crash in Irrigation Canal
In Boise, Idaho, police arrived at the scene of an accident prepared to rescue a man who had driven his car into an irrigation canal. Before they left the scene, they had pegged the driver, Gerardo Huerta-Flores Jerome, with a DUI citation.
Huerta-Flores was speeding in a work zone around dawn when he veered off the road and his vehicle rolled into the canal. A trooper passing by saw parts of the accident. He stopped and waded out into the ditch and pulled Jerome from the car, which was under water.
The driver went to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, reported Fox12.
In North Dakota: Billboards Track DUI Arrests
In Fargo, North Dakota, police have taken a decidedly public approach to cutting down on DUI arrests: they are displaying the latest number of arrests on several electronic billboards.
Police in Fargo installed two billboards in the city, which will display the number of arrests for driving under the influence that have occurred in the city. The count will update every Friday. Fargo police Sgt. Mike Bernier considers the billboards an educational tool with a simple goal: “We’re just trying to get people to not drink and drive,” he said.
A state grant had paid for the purchase and maintenance of the signs. The total cost for the effort was around $7,000.
Georgia Man Steals Own Car During DUI
In Rome, Georgia, a man reported that his car had been stolen while he was at the store. Three hours later, that man was arrested. He was driving the very car that he had reported stolen, and he was allegedly driving it drunk.
He was arrested for DUI and false report of a crime, reported the Atlanta Journal Constitution.