Two stories follow:
Date: 5/27/2009
Police: Boy, 12, hits car while driving drunk dad
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Police have arrested a man they say sat drunk in the passenger seat of his SUV while he let his 12-year-old son drive. Authorities say the boy hit a pregnant woman’s car while making a turn.
Both vehicles had minor damage Saturday. No injuries were reported, but the woman asked to be taken to a hospital as a precaution. She was eight months pregnant.
Police say the boy’s father, 32-year-old Adrian Kegler, was clearly intoxicated. He wasn’t given a breathalyzer test because he wasn’t driving.
Before being released on bail, Kegler was charged with culpable negligence with actual injury. Kegler also was charged with permitting an unauthorized person to drive and child neglect.
A woman who answered the phone at Kegler’s house declined comment.
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Information from: St. Petersburg Times, http://tampabay.com
Date: 5/27/2009
7-year-old drives for help after crash in NM
CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — A 7-year-old girl survived a crash that killed her father and drove the family’s damaged vehicle to get help, police said.
State police Capt. Jimmy Glascock says 40-year-old Guillermo Montes of Bovina, Texas, was thrown out of the vehicle Saturday night when it went off a highway and rolled over, coming to rest in a field in Curry County.
Glascock says little Elizabeth Kazza realized her father was dead and drove for about three miles until a passing motorist spotted her.
“(It took) a lot of courage. … It’s remarkable anybody could drive after something like that,” Glascock said.
Authorities found Montes dead at the scene. The girl and her 4-year-old brother were treated for minor injuries.
State police said Wednesday that Elizabeth told officers her dad was driving to Clovis, about 25 miles from Bovina, to get beer when they crashed.
They said alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash. Glascock said beer bottles were found at the scene, and that Elizabeth and her younger brother said Montes was drinking as he drove.
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Information from: Clovis News Journal, http://www.cnjonline.com
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Ohio man charged with drunken driving on bar stool
Date: 3/31/2009
NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — Authorities in Ohio say a man has been charged with drunken driving after crashing his motorized bar stool.
Police in Newark, 30 miles east of Columbus, say when they responded to a report of a crash with injuries on March 4, they found a man who had wrecked a bar stool powered by a deconstructed lawn mower.
Twenty-eight-year Kile Wygle was hospitalized for minor injuries. Police say he was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after he told an officer at the hospital that he had consumed 15 beers. Wygle told police his motorized bar stool can go up to 38 mph.
Wygle has pleaded not guilty and has requested a jury trial.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
NEWARK, Ohio (AP) — Authorities in Ohio say a man has been charged with drunken driving after crashing his motorized bar stool.
Police in Newark, 30 miles east of Columbus, say when they responded to a report of a crash with injuries on March 4, they found a man who had wrecked a bar stool powered by a deconstructed lawn mower.
Twenty-eight-year Kile Wygle was hospitalized for minor injuries. Police say he was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after he told an officer at the hospital that he had consumed 15 beers. Wygle told police his motorized bar stool can go up to 38 mph.
Wygle has pleaded not guilty and has requested a jury trial.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Ex-congressman may get jail for drunken driving
Date: 12/8/2008
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Disgraced former Rep. Vito Fossella is headed to court to find out if he has to serve jail time for a drunken-driving incident that wrecked his career by revealing he’d fathered a child from an extramarital affair.
A judge has scheduled a Monday afternoon hearing to decide if Fossella, a New York City congressman for more than a decade, was so drunk he should be slapped with a five-day jail sentence.
Fossella was arrested after running a red light on May 1 in a Virginia suburb of Washington, and convicted of drunken driving in October. Under Virginia law, a driver who registers a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher must serve five days behind bars. Police say Fossella’s blood alcohol content was 0.17.
The arrest led to revelations that Fossella — who has a wife and three children in his home district of Staten Island — also had a young daughter with a former Air Force officer.
Fossella decided not to seek re-election this year, and a Democrat won his seat. Now, Fossella faces the prospect of ending his once-promising political career with a stint in the slammer.
Judge Becky Moore of Alexandria General District Court has received pre-sentencing arguments from both sides.
In court papers, Fossella’s lawyer, Jerry Phillips, contends the machine the police used to test Fossella’s blood alcohol content was faulty and for that reason he should not face jail time.
The lawyer is asking the judge to sentence Fossella to a suspended jail sentence, an alcohol safety course and a one-year suspension of his driver’s license in Virginia.
Prosecutor David Lord dismissed the contention there was anything wrong with Fossella’s intoxication test results, and suggested Fossella may have pounded drinks just before getting behind the wheel, which would have led to his 0.17 reading on the machine.
“It is a reasonable inference that if a person ‘slams’ or rapidly consumes alcohol immediately before leaving a bar, the suspect will experience a rising BAC at the time of arrest,” Lord argued, referring to the blood alcohol level.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Disgraced former Rep. Vito Fossella is headed to court to find out if he has to serve jail time for a drunken-driving incident that wrecked his career by revealing he’d fathered a child from an extramarital affair.
A judge has scheduled a Monday afternoon hearing to decide if Fossella, a New York City congressman for more than a decade, was so drunk he should be slapped with a five-day jail sentence.
Fossella was arrested after running a red light on May 1 in a Virginia suburb of Washington, and convicted of drunken driving in October. Under Virginia law, a driver who registers a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher must serve five days behind bars. Police say Fossella’s blood alcohol content was 0.17.
The arrest led to revelations that Fossella — who has a wife and three children in his home district of Staten Island — also had a young daughter with a former Air Force officer.
Fossella decided not to seek re-election this year, and a Democrat won his seat. Now, Fossella faces the prospect of ending his once-promising political career with a stint in the slammer.
Judge Becky Moore of Alexandria General District Court has received pre-sentencing arguments from both sides.
In court papers, Fossella’s lawyer, Jerry Phillips, contends the machine the police used to test Fossella’s blood alcohol content was faulty and for that reason he should not face jail time.
The lawyer is asking the judge to sentence Fossella to a suspended jail sentence, an alcohol safety course and a one-year suspension of his driver’s license in Virginia.
Prosecutor David Lord dismissed the contention there was anything wrong with Fossella’s intoxication test results, and suggested Fossella may have pounded drinks just before getting behind the wheel, which would have led to his 0.17 reading on the machine.
“It is a reasonable inference that if a person ‘slams’ or rapidly consumes alcohol immediately before leaving a bar, the suspect will experience a rising BAC at the time of arrest,” Lord argued, referring to the blood alcohol level.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Ex-Illinois gym coach faces drunk-driving charge
Date: 10/28/2008
By DAVID MERCER
Associated Press Writer
By DAVID MERCER
Associated Press Writer
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) _ A former University of Illinois gymnastics coach resigned because of personal issues, including a pending drunk-driving charge in Wisconsin, and is cooperating with an investigation into a video camera found in a locker room, his attorney said Tuesday.
Jon Valdez, who trained Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Justin Spring, resigned as an assistant coach from the Illinois men’s team on Oct. 17.
“I can’t go into the details of his resignation other than to say he was undergoing some serious personal issues, and that was one of them,” said attorney Lance Northcutt of Chicago, who is not representing Valdez in the DWI case.
Court records from Waukesha County in Wisconsin indicate the 39-year-old Valdez was charged with operating while under the influence after a Sept. 18 arrest. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Someone who answered a call to Valdez’s cell phone Tuesday hung up and a real estate agent who answered the door at his Urbana home said he wasn’t there. The agent said she was showing the home, which is for sale.
Northcutt and university officials have declined to say whether the video camera investigation was a factor in Valdez’s resignation, which the attorney said was voluntary. University police hope to finish their investigation into the video camera by the end of the week and send it to Champaign County prosecutors, who would decide whether to file charges.
“Right now, no charges have been filed. And we have not been told by anyone that charges will be filed,” Northcutt said.
A student found the small wireless camera inside a locker Sept. 25, university police Lt. Roy Acree said. It was pointed out of the locker through a small opening and “would be able to capture images of people changing their clothes,” he said.
He declined to say which locker room the camera was in, other than that it wasn’t a room used by students outside the university’s athletics programs. Acree said the camera wasn’t transmitting images to a computer or over the Internet, but wouldn’t say whether investigators found any stored images.
Northcutt declined to discuss the investigation’s details.
“We are cooperating with the investigation, and will continue to cooperate as best as we can,” he said.
In the DWI case, Valdez was pulled over Sept. 18 by a Wisconsin state trooper in Brookfield, Wis., about 10 miles west of Milwaukee, according to the Waukesha County District Attorney’s office. A spokeswoman for the office said Valdez has no prior criminal record.
He pleaded not guilty on Oct. 20 and is due in court again on Nov. 17.
Attorney Christopher Strohbehn of Waukesha, Wis., is representing Valdez in that case. He didn’t immediately return a call for comment Tuesday.
Illinois head gymnastics coach Yoshi Hayasaki said Tuesday that he didn’t think Valdez resigned over the arrest, but referred further questions to Assistant Athletic Director Kent Brown. Brown declined to comment on the resignation.
Valdez had been on the Illini coaching staff since 2000 and is Spring’s personal coach. He accompanied Spring to the Beijing Olympics, where the U.S. men won the bronze medal.
Efforts to reach Spring and several members of the Illinois men’s team Tuesday by telephone and e-mail were not successful.
“USA Gymnastics will follow the progress of this investigation and address the issue accordingly,” USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said.
On April 25, the UI announced Valdez had been promoted from assistant coach and would succeed Hayasaki as head coach when Hayasaki retired following the 2008-09 season. The university now says it is looking for an assistant to replace Valdez.
Associated Press National Writer Nancy Armour contributed to this report from Chicago.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
NY county alters internet DWI ‘Wall of Shame’
Date: 10/22/2008 5:14 AM
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writer
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) _ Motorists charged with drunken driving will no longer be depicted on Nassau County’s internet “Wall of Shame” in light of a judge’s ruling that posting the arrests on a Web site violates due process.
County Executive Tom Suozzi insists the county is within its rights to distribute the names and photographs of accused drunken drivers but said Tuesday he would wait until suspects are convicted before listing them on the Internet.
Attorneys who represent accused drunken drivers said that is still not acceptable and punishes people beyond what state statutes allow.
Suozzi’s announcement came a day after state Supreme Court Judge William LaMarca ruled that announcing the drunken driving arrests before a suspect has a chance to make his case in court violates due process rights.
The judge’s ruling applied only to an individual who sued over the policy, but Suozzi conceded it is likely to invite additional lawsuits.
Although he plans to appeal the ruling, Suozzi said the county will now only list those convicted of DWI-related crimes after a trial or plea bargain.
Holding up newspapers trumpeting the arrest of New York Yankees star pitcher Joba Chamberlain on suspected drunken driving charges last weekend in Nebraska, Suozzi took issue with LaMarca’s ruling that the Web site creates “limitless and eternal notoriety.” He said he fails to see a difference between publication in a newspaper or the Internet.
“The objective of what we’re trying to do here is to change the culture that exists related to drunk driving, that it’s not just a socially acceptable crime,” Suozzi said.
The county initiated the Wall of Shame effort last Memorial Day weekend after a highway patrol officer who had stopped one suspected drunken driver on the Long Island Expressway was struck and seriously injured by a second driver, also suspected of being under the influence.
Since Memorial Day, about 1,400 drivers accused of being under the influence of alcohol have appeared on the county’s Web site. Police officials also said DWI-related arrests are up 6 percent over the same period a year ago.
Brian Griffin, an attorney who represented the person who sued the county, said the revised policy still violates state law. Griffin contends that if Suozzi wants to list convicted drunken drivers on the Web site, he will need legislative approval.
He cited a 1995 state Court of Appeals ruling that found a judge was wrong to order a repeat drunken driver to display a “CONVICTED DWI” license plate.
In that ruling, the state’s highest court said: “While innovative ideas to address the serious problem of recidivist drunk driving are not to be discouraged, the courts must act within the limits of their authority and cannot overreach by using their probationary powers to accomplish what only the legislative branch can do.”
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On the Net:
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writer
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) _ Motorists charged with drunken driving will no longer be depicted on Nassau County’s internet “Wall of Shame” in light of a judge’s ruling that posting the arrests on a Web site violates due process.
County Executive Tom Suozzi insists the county is within its rights to distribute the names and photographs of accused drunken drivers but said Tuesday he would wait until suspects are convicted before listing them on the Internet.
Attorneys who represent accused drunken drivers said that is still not acceptable and punishes people beyond what state statutes allow.
Suozzi’s announcement came a day after state Supreme Court Judge William LaMarca ruled that announcing the drunken driving arrests before a suspect has a chance to make his case in court violates due process rights.
The judge’s ruling applied only to an individual who sued over the policy, but Suozzi conceded it is likely to invite additional lawsuits.
Although he plans to appeal the ruling, Suozzi said the county will now only list those convicted of DWI-related crimes after a trial or plea bargain.
Holding up newspapers trumpeting the arrest of New York Yankees star pitcher Joba Chamberlain on suspected drunken driving charges last weekend in Nebraska, Suozzi took issue with LaMarca’s ruling that the Web site creates “limitless and eternal notoriety.” He said he fails to see a difference between publication in a newspaper or the Internet.
“The objective of what we’re trying to do here is to change the culture that exists related to drunk driving, that it’s not just a socially acceptable crime,” Suozzi said.
The county initiated the Wall of Shame effort last Memorial Day weekend after a highway patrol officer who had stopped one suspected drunken driver on the Long Island Expressway was struck and seriously injured by a second driver, also suspected of being under the influence.
Since Memorial Day, about 1,400 drivers accused of being under the influence of alcohol have appeared on the county’s Web site. Police officials also said DWI-related arrests are up 6 percent over the same period a year ago.
Brian Griffin, an attorney who represented the person who sued the county, said the revised policy still violates state law. Griffin contends that if Suozzi wants to list convicted drunken drivers on the Web site, he will need legislative approval.
He cited a 1995 state Court of Appeals ruling that found a judge was wrong to order a repeat drunken driver to display a “CONVICTED DWI” license plate.
In that ruling, the state’s highest court said: “While innovative ideas to address the serious problem of recidivist drunk driving are not to be discouraged, the courts must act within the limits of their authority and cannot overreach by using their probationary powers to accomplish what only the legislative branch can do.”
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On the Net:
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Police: 10-year-old driver flips van in Tenn.
Date: 10/7/2008 12:44 PM
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ A 10-year-old was driving up to 90 mph when he crashed a van carrying a man who told police he had drank at least 15 beers and a woman who was trying to swallow as many pills as she could when deputies arrived at the scene, Tennessee authorities said Tuesday.
The young driver lost control and the vehicle rolled, coming to rest on its top in northeastern Tennessee, Sullivan County authorities said. The two adults and three children in the van were taken to Bristol Memorial Hospital with minor injuries following Sunday’s crash.
Police charged 43-year-old Randy Lewis of Bristol with seven violations, including third offense DUI and felony reckless endangerment. People can be charged with DUI in Tennessee if they own the vehicle, even if they are not driving. A booking photo released by the Sheriff’s Office showed Lewis wearing a T-shirt that said, “Buy this dad a beer.”
Paula Elaine Evans, who is 38 and also of Bristol, faces charges that include aggravated child abuse or neglect.
Lewis and Evans were being held in the Sullivan County Jail after a judge increased their bonds on Tuesday to $50,000 each at an arraignment hearing.
County jailers did not know if Lewis and Evans had retained attorneys and no one was immediately available to answer questions at the Sullivan County Public Defender’s office.
The sheriff’s office said Lewis acknowledged drinking liquor besides the beers.
The children — two 10-year-olds and a 6-year-old — were related to the adults, said authorities who declined to further detail the relationships.
The children were released to the Tennessee Children’s Services Department after being treated at the hospital.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (AP) _ A 10-year-old was driving up to 90 mph when he crashed a van carrying a man who told police he had drank at least 15 beers and a woman who was trying to swallow as many pills as she could when deputies arrived at the scene, Tennessee authorities said Tuesday.
The young driver lost control and the vehicle rolled, coming to rest on its top in northeastern Tennessee, Sullivan County authorities said. The two adults and three children in the van were taken to Bristol Memorial Hospital with minor injuries following Sunday’s crash.
Police charged 43-year-old Randy Lewis of Bristol with seven violations, including third offense DUI and felony reckless endangerment. People can be charged with DUI in Tennessee if they own the vehicle, even if they are not driving. A booking photo released by the Sheriff’s Office showed Lewis wearing a T-shirt that said, “Buy this dad a beer.”
Paula Elaine Evans, who is 38 and also of Bristol, faces charges that include aggravated child abuse or neglect.
Lewis and Evans were being held in the Sullivan County Jail after a judge increased their bonds on Tuesday to $50,000 each at an arraignment hearing.
County jailers did not know if Lewis and Evans had retained attorneys and no one was immediately available to answer questions at the Sullivan County Public Defender’s office.
The sheriff’s office said Lewis acknowledged drinking liquor besides the beers.
The children — two 10-year-olds and a 6-year-old — were related to the adults, said authorities who declined to further detail the relationships.
The children were released to the Tennessee Children’s Services Department after being treated at the hospital.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.