Man arrested for drunk driving

A teenager wearing a Breathalyzer costume was arrested for driving while intoxicated (DWI),  minor in possession (MIP) and negligent driving.

Police in Lincoln, Nebraska arrested the 19 year-old after observing him “driving erratically” in a Ford pickup truck in the early morning hours of Monday, November 1.   He was was wearing a Breathalyzer test  Halloween costume with a less-than-tastefully placed “blow here” tube.  His blood alcohol concentration was measured at more than .16 when he blew into a real Breathalyzer.

Police reported finding a bottle of vodka and beer upon searching his vehicle.

History (and irony) repeats itself.  Check out our  November 9, 2009 DWI News post about a young man in Ohio busted for drunken driving while wearing a Breathalyzer costume for Halloween.

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Anti-gay lawmaker arrested for DUI on his way home from gay nightclub

Sacramento, CA

This is the sort of story that confirms many of the suspicions surrounding homophobia:

Sources tell CBS13 a state senator from Southern California was arrested for allegedly driving drunk after leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento, early Wednesday morning [...]

The Sacramento County district attorney says Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn’s blood-alcohol level was .14 percent when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving near the Capitol.

Ashburn, a father of four, is a Republican Senator representing parts of Kern, Tulare and San Bernardino Counties with a history of opposing gay rights [...]

A male passenger, who was not identified as a lawmaker, was also in the car but was not detained.

The story of the overtly homophobic lawmaker caught in the act (or nearly in the act) has become almost a cliché at this point. Of course, clichés are often as not fraught with deeper truths. Obvious truths, even. I say once something becomes a cliché you can almost – not quite, but almost – count on its veracity. It’s like when a proper noun becomes a verb, you know something must be working – like “Google” for instance. That’s how clichés work.

I’d say this particular cliché has reached maturity. This is not to suggest that all discomfort people may feel with the idea of homosexuality is wrong or bigoted. It’s only natural for people to resist change, to resist any break with cultural norms – especially sexual norms. With many breaks from cultural or sexual norms, this makes sense. There is a reason we have these norms, after all. We should keep some of them and lose others.

I’m all for promoting marriage myself. Free love can lead to all sorts of social problems, not the least of which is the spread of disease. Which is one of many reasons I think we should support gay rights – especially gay marriage. Free love wasn’t so good for the gay community, either – and the AIDS epidemic is evidence enough of that. Gay marriage will bring one of our stronger social institutions into the gay community – and that’s good for everyone – even for closeted, confused and ultimately sad men like Roy Ashburn.

How can we view this DUI as anything less than a cry for help, after all? We can call him a homophobic hypocrite all we like, but in the end it’s really a very sad story.

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DWI chair to be sold…one more time

Duluth, MN

If you never got a chance to place a bid on the infamous ‘DWI chair,’ you have another shot.

Proctor Police hope the third time’s the charm, in their ongoing attempt to find a buyer for the motorized chair.

The chair was forfeited to authorities after a Proctor man drove it while drunk in 2008.

Authorities say the chair’s former owner was three times over the legal limit when he crashed into a parked car.

Police say next week Oberfoell Auctioneers will pick the chair up, and officials say it is expected to appear online in the near future.

Two previous attempts to auction the chair off to the highest bidder failed after gaining national attention.

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Driver who rear-ended marked patrol car is arrested for DUI

Springfield, IL

A 34-year-old Springfield man was arrested for alleged DUI and marijuana possession after rear-ending a Springfield police squad car outside Marly’s Pub, 9 Old State Capitol Plaza, early Saturday.

Jamaine M. Hardy, of the 500 block of West Miller Street, was driving a Dodge van south on Fifth Street behind Springfield Police officer Donald Rummans, 34, of Rochester, about 12:40 a.m.

Rummans, who was in uniform and driving a department Ford Crown Victoria, was southbound and stopped his car after reportedly seeing a fight on the sidewalk outside Marly’s Pub, a police report states. As he stopped the car and was getting out, his vehicle was rear-ended by Hardy’s van.

Springfield Police Officer Jeffrey Coker’s report states Hardy was “agitated and walking in the roadway” and “stated the car just stopped in front of him.”

“I asked the driver for his identification,” Coker’s report states. “The driver attempted to walk to the driver side door of his vehicle. Officer Rummans and I grabbed the driver by his coat and arms and escorted him away from his van.”

When Hardy refused to get inside Rummans’ squad car, he was “pushed into the squad car” by the officers, the report states.

Hardy was then arrested for alleged DUI and cited for failing to reduce speed in time to avoid a crash, police said. Officers later found a bag of marijuana inside the van.

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Off-duty cop arrested for drunken driving after cop car slams into front of Tiffany’s flagship 5th Avenue store

New York, NY

An off-duty cop was arrested for drunken driving after he slammed his car into the front of Tiffany’s flagship Fifth Avenue store at 3 a.m. today, police said.

The wreck happened as NYPD officer Raphael Ospina, 27, a cop since 2004, was heading east on 57th Street. He collided with a private garbage truck that was heading in the opposite direction and making a left turn onto Fifth Avenue south.

Ospina’s Chrysler 300 sedan, with two passengers inside, jumped a curb and hit the famous façade of the legendary jewelry store.

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Highland, CA

A suspected drunken driver who led sheriff’s deputies on a high speed pursuit through Highland late Monday was arrested after fleeing on foot wearing only women’s underwear, officials said.

Bruce Parker, 42, was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage and a controlled substance and violating his parole.

Deputies tried to pull him over about 10:15 p.m. after seeing him go straight from a right hand turn lane on Highland Avenue. He allegedly refused to pull over, eventually hitting the San Manuel welcome sign and a signal light control box at the intersection of Victoria and Citrus avenues.

He then leaped out of the car and tried to run, wearing only women’s underwear, officials said.

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Sturgis, SD

The Sturgis woman who prosecutors say was arrested with a blood-alcohol level almost nine times the legal driving limit, has pleaded not guilty in Sturgis to driving under the influence.

Marguerite Engle, 45, entered the plea Tuesday in Meade County Magistrate Court in Sturgis. Engle was arrested Dec. 1 when she was found passed out behind the wheel of a stolen delivery van along Interstate 90.

Meade County State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal said Wednesday that other charges against Engle will be presented to a grand jury on Thursday, Jan. 14. Those include driving under the influence, misdemeanor marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and not having a valid driver’s license.

Sondreal earlier said Engle had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a state record, when she was found behind the wheel of the vehicle parked on I-90.

A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper discovered Engle passed out behind the wheel of a delivery truck reported stolen from Rapid City.

Her blood-alcohol level was almost nine times South Dakota’s legal limit of .08 percent.

Engle’s reading may be the highest ever recorded in South Dakota, Sondreal said.

Sondreal said a state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.

Dr. Robert Looyenga, who recently retired from the Rapid City Police Department’s forensic laboratory, told Sondreal that the highest blood-alcohol sample he tested measured .56 percent.

Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population.

“Engle’s was almost double that,” Sondreal said.

After she was found, Engle was hospitalized and freed on bond.

She failed to appear in court on Dec. 15, but Sturgis police located her Jan. 4 in another stolen car sitting in a ditch along S.D. Highway 34 near Fort Meade.

Engle was arrested for second offense driving under the influence and taken to jail. She is being held without bond.

Sondreal said Engle has been living in a hotel after recently moving here from Minnesota.

Engle is most likely facing charges in Pennington County since both vehicles were stolen in Rapid City, Sondreal said.

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Lancaster, NH

The former Errol police chief could get his job back because the town didn’t follow proper procedures when it fired him following a drunken driving conviction.

A judge ruled last week that the firing of Randolph “Randy” DiFruscio had to be reversed because the town selectmen took three months to give him a written reason for his firing.

The New Hampshire Union Leader says state law requires that police chiefs be given written notice when they are fired. They then have 45 days to appeal.

Lawyer Rick Lehman says DiFruscio’s certification as a police officer was reinstated Jan. 1 following a six month suspension.

DiFruscio was on a personal leave of absence last April from his job as Errol’s only police officer when he was convicted of DWI.

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Lancaster, PA

Big news in Quarryville, PA, the other night: Police charged the driver of a slow-moving horse and buggy with drunk driving. The man was Amish, slumped over and asleep as the slowly-moving buggy meandered through town.
After police who him up, 22-year-old Elmer Stolzfoos Fisher blew a point-18 on the breathalyzer –legal limit is point-08 in P-A.

Wait, isn’t the horse a designated driver?
–The good news: None of his family will find out about this on the television.
–”The reason I pulled you over sir is that you had your turn-candle on for the last five miles.”

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Proctor, MN

The Proctor’s City Council and the Police Chief decided to put the now infamous motorized lounge chair back on the auction block.

Within the next few weeks, the chair will again be posted for sale on eBay.

This will be the third time the chair will be up for auction. The first time, the bidding reached over $43,000 before eBay canceled the sale. eBay now says “…the listing should not have been removed, including for search and browse manipulation.”

During a second auction, Clayton Adler of Cupertino, California had the winning bid of $10,999.99. However, he claimed to have placed the bid in error.

Police Chief Walter Wobig filed a complaint with eBay. City Attorney John Bray suggested that Proctor pursue the difference from Adler if the next sale garners less than the amount of his winning bid.

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