We're Drunk, But We Aren't Driving, Officer, um Doesn't Work

Debbie Arrington at the Sacramento Bee has this unique peek at driving while drunk:

Maybe this wasn't the best example of driver's education.

Two parents who had too much to drink were cited for letting their 14-year-old son drive them to a Sacramento liquor store, police said.

With his intoxicated parents in the car, the unlicensed teen driver was stopped Saturday night by police at a DUI checkpoint at Florin Road and Franklin Boulevard in South Sacramento. According to police reports, the parents - who were not identified - weren't arrested. But they received a citation for allowing their underage son to drive without a license.
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Excellent.  Nice job on the parenting.  Let's get the kid in rehab right now. 

Judge Sentencing Man on 11th DUI: You are a Highway Terrorist

Allegheny Judge David R. Cashman (small pic, right)  has been known to go over the top in his colloquies with defendants when handing down sentences or taking pleas.  But he seems to have nailed the situation recently while accepting a guilty plea from Richard Caporal on his 11th DUI.  This is the local news account from WPIX.com:

A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty to his 1[5]th driving under the influence charge on Monday.

Channel 11's Alan Jennings was in court when a judge called him a "highway terrorist."

Judge David Cashman asked Richard Caporal, 58, why he was pleading guilty. Caporal responded, "Because I am, your honor."

Police records show that Caporal's 11th DUI charge came during a snowstorm in February 2010. Police reports stated that Caporal crashed into a parked car at 2 a.m. on Mount Joseph Street.

Neighbors said they heard the crash and watched as Caporal fell down repeatedly. One neighbor told police that, "It was like watching the Three Stooges." Police said Caporal's blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was 0.25 percent.

During the court hearing, the judge told Caporal that, "You are like a highway terrorist, driving drunk for decades. Well, you won't kill anyone on my watch."

Cashman reviewed Caporal's arrest record, noting that his driver's license has been suspended since 1977.Caporal is not eligible to get his license back until 2043, when he'll be 93 years old.

[H]e [received 15 years.]

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Get him off the road.  He's a terrorist and a menace to other drivers, pedestrians, and other living things. Keep him off the road.  Caporal is a sick man.  Good job, Judge Cashman.

Party Plates

In some states drunk drivers who are able to get driving priviledges some times are required to purchase what are euphemistically called "party plates."

Sometimes, some of these people never learn.

This is from the police blotter of a small town in northeast Ohio. 

"While making a traffic stop at 9:02 p.m. June 1 at the North Royalton Speedway station, a cop observed a man walk past his patrol car carrying a six-pack. The man got into the driver’s side of a white Mercury displaying yellow OVI tags. The driver, who is under suspension with limited privileges, stated he was on his way home from an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and stopped to get gas, and apparently some beer. The man was issued a citation for driving under an OVI suspension and will appear in court."
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Usually when we encounter the repeat offender it is in the context of ghastly tragedies. 

Transient Roofer--6th DUI Arrest

Reporter Donna Miller at Cleveland.com reports on the transient roofer charged for his 6th DUI.

"Police arrested a 41-year-old Felicity man on his sixth drunken driving charge. James Davidson was driving a red Ford Ranger west on Interstate 90 near Columbia Road when a fellow motorist called police at 3:45 a.m. Oct. 25. The caller said the pickup truck was drifting all over the road at about 45 mph.

According to the police report, Patrolman Matt Porras stopped the truck just west of Crocker Road after seeing it roll outside the marked lanes several times. The driver's eyes were glossy and he admitted to drinking two beers. He also said he didn't have an Ohio driver's license.

Davidson failed roadside sobriety tests and was cuffed. He refused to perform the breath test. A check of Davidson's driving record revealed he had five DUI convictions; four in Tennessee, one in Ohio, Lt. Ray Arcuri said.Westlake patrolmen arrest two intoxicated roofers on Interstate 90. Davidson's passenger, Michael Weaver, was arrested for disorderly conduct while intoxicated, because he was too drunk to care for himself, Patrolman Joshua Frey said.

Weaver said they threw their beer cans away at a rest stop. Police found a Sunny D container in the truck that contained a mixture of juice and alcohol.

Davidson is charged with felony DUI and was cited for driving without a license, failing to wear a seat belt and driving outside of marked lanes.  Weaver and Davidson said they were driving from the Dayton area to Cleveland to start a roofing job."
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The Great Lakes shoreline is dotted with many beautiful and old American houses often protected by gorgeous slate roofs.   I've seen them. 

While the Great Lakes region does not suffer anything near the horrific tornado alley weather, seasonal storms sometimes bring old trees down on the homes wrecking roofs.  The region frequently experiences an influx of "storm chaser" contractors and my friends tell me that this last autumn brought a lot of these contractors and their workers into the region often via I-90 a coast-to-coast highway.  While you will find alcoholics and drug addicts in every calling, with these contractors you get alcoholics and drug addicts on wheels. 

When I was a teenager, an older female cousin dated one of these guys, an alcoholic "drywall-er." He hired me as a helper, which most consisted of sitting in a bar with him until he was too drunk to work. When he did work he was an "artist," in fact I'm certain I never again saw anyone who could do what he did with dry wall and a hammer.  Remarkable.

He disappeared with the seasons.