DWI Blogs

State Reports More Than 200 DWI Arrests for March

Minnesota's increased DWI enforcement program, called NightCAP focuses on the 13 deadliest counties in the state, with Blue Earth County being one of them.Their latest campaign netted nearly 200 arrests statewide, and as News 12's Ryan Gustafson tells us, law enforcement is seeing something positive come out of the program.Since the state's NightCAP DWI enforcement campaign began in the fall of 2008, more than 850 DWI arrests have been made during the high visibility patrol nights.56 of them in Blue Earth County.Officials say the high visibility enforcement reminds people to drive safe, and takes dangerous drivers off the road.Deputy Thomas Coulter says, "We're out there, we're going to keep fighting it, keep locating the impaired drivers and put as many of them as we can into jail and take them off the road.It is good that we're getting them off the street, but on the same token, it's kind of alarming to see that many of them."Although there were six DWI arrests during Blue Earth County's St. Patrick's Day NightCAP, Deputy Coulter was encouraged by the 20 designated drivers law enforcement found that same night.Something they feel is a sign that they're getting their point across.Deputy Coulter says, "Typically we'll see maybe ten or 11 and we saw almost over double of that. So the message is getting there.And that's important to law enforcement, because the alternative is not something they want to do.The worse job for law enforcement is going to tell the family of those that have lost someone that they've had a death in the family.

Man Arrested for the 12th Time on DWI

STILLWATER — A Minneapolis man was arrested for the 12th time on DWI-related charges after he rolled his car off the road into a Stillwater house.

Daniel Lynn Mills, 42, was arrested March 20 after he allegedly crashed in the 1200 block of First St. N. He was charged with two counts of felony DWI, as well as possession of an open bottle in a vehicle and driving after cancellation.

According to the Washington County criminal complaint: Police responded after a neighbor reported the crash and found Mills’ vehicle wedged against the house. Mills was attempting to remove items from the vehicle. He was so drunk that officers had to hold him by the arms to prevent him from falling down.

Mills claimed a friend was driving the vehicle and the friend had fled after the crash. Mills refused to identify the friend. He also said he had been playing with the gears and may have caused the crash, during which the vehicle rolled twice before striking the house.

Mills was in possession of two sets of car keys. A bottle of whiskey, an open bottle of soda that smelled of whiskey, and an empty Oxycodone prescription bottle were found in the vehicle.

The defendant was combative and verbally abusive toward officers, according to the complaint, and refused to take an intoxication level test, stating “I was already in prison for this offense before.

Mills recently had been released from prison, where he had been since his 11th drunk driving conviction in November, 2006. He had an active arrest warrant for failing to comply with the terms of his release. He also has convictions for check forgery and aggravated robbery, according to state records.

McKinney was released from the Washington County Detention Center at 7:11 a.m. Wednesday on a $2,595 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Springdale District Court on April 16.

l>>>

City manager gets probation, fine in DWI case

A judge has sentenced Vidor City Manager Ricky Jorgensen to one year probation and a $2,000 fine following his DWI conviction.

Jorgensen was arrested for DWI on December 23, 2005. Authorities say Jorgensen was charged after he ran into a DPS patrol car which was stopped on I-10 while the trooper investigated another accident.

(Is it raining at your house? Check out our new interactive radar and zoom into your neighborhood! Click Here)

A jury in Orange County convicted Jorgensen on February 4, 2009.  

He faced a punishment ranging from two years probation to between 3 and 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

One of the jurors from the trial attended today's hearing. She agrees with prosecutors, that justice was served. 

Vidor City Mayor Ray Long tells KFDM Jorgensen's job as City Manager will not be affected by the conviction or sentence. He says Jorgensen was suspended for 30 days, without pay, after his arrest, and the council feels that is sufficient enough punishment from them.

View Original>>>

A judge sentenced a Willis man who will go to trial in the next few months for his fifth charge of driving while intoxicated to 50 years in prison for his fourth DWI.

A jury convicted John El Garner, 39, Feb. 4 in the 410th state District Court of Judge K. Michael Mayes, and visiting Judge Reagan Clark sentenced him Wednesday, according to a press release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

“Fifty years, I felt, was extremely fair,” prosecutor Nancy Hebert said. “To me, you just can’t hide the look of shock on your face when you get sentenced to 50 years.”

Hebert said Garner raised the issue of competency during his trial, which began Feb. 2.

“The jury found him competent to stand trial and convicted him,” she said.

He was arrested April 21, 2008, when he was observed driving erratically in the 400 block of West Montgomery Street in Willis, the press release stated. The police officer who pulled him over approached the vehicle and “immediately noticed the odor of alcohol emitting from the passenger compartment of the vehicle,” the release stated.

Garner performed poorly on field sobriety tests, refused to take a breathalyzer test and became belligerent at the Montgomery County Jail and had to be restrained, the release stated.

But Garner was released three days later, on April 24, on a personal recognizance bond, First Assistant District Attorney Phil Grant said.

“I don’t really have an explanation for that one,” Grant said.

Exactly two months after his arrest in April, Garner was arrested again – his fifth DWI offense. He is set to go to trial for that arrest in the next few months, the press release stated.

Hebert will serve as prosecuting attorney again in that case, she said.

“I assume the defense attorney and I will be talking about that,” she said.

Garner’s DWI conviction was his first, Hebert said, but he has a history of arrests for various misdemeanor and felony charges dating back to 1987, according to Public Data.

“He was an all-around career criminal,” Grant said.

He served prison time for two felony convictions, Hebert said, including eight years for a 1991 conviction for burglary of a building in Brazoria County and two years in 2006 for conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Louisiana.

Garner does have the possibility of being paroled after serving about a quarter of his sentence, Grant said.

District Attorney Brett Ligon, who has said his office will step up its efforts to prosecute driving while intoxicated cases, was pleased with Garner’s sentence and praised Hebert.

“Nancy continues to be one of the hardest-working assistant DAs in this office,” he stated in the press release. “She tried more felony cases than anyone else in the office last year.

“I’m thankful she was able to convince Judge Clark that in order to protect the welfare of our community, John Garner needs to stay in prison.”

View Original>>>

MADD honors girl, cop in the fight against DWI

A Glen Cove schoolgirl who called police after spotting a man stumbling out of a bar and into a vehicle, as well as a Suffolk cop who made three separate drunken driving arrests during a single tour, were among more than 100 people who got awards yesterday at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving law enforcement luncheon in Lindenhurst.

With many of the cops still wearing black mourning bands over their badges in honor of Glen Ciano, a fellow officer killed last month in Commack by a suspected drunken driver, officers representing agencies from the East End to westernmost Nassau County listened as prosecutors and MADD's Long Island affiliate urged vigilance against driving under the influence on Long Island.

"Together, we all in the room have a common mission - and that is to do everything we can, use every tool available in order to stop the devastation, the devastating injuries, the deaths that we are seeing on our roadways," said Suffolk District Attorney Thomas J. Spota.

Two of the success stories spotlighted at the luncheon were those of the schoolgirl, Samantha Smith, 11, and Suffolk Sgt. Jeffrey Walker of the Third Precinct.

Samantha was going home from Robert M. Finley Middle School last fall when she and her mom saw the man stagger from the bar to the vehicle.

"He couldn't even get the keys inside the lock," she said of the man.

Samantha took out a notebook from her book bag and jotted down enough information about the vehicle to lead to an arrest of a man who police say had a .24 percent blood-alcohol content.

At the same ceremony Walker received an award for locking up three suspected drunken drivers - in Brentwood, in Central Islip and in Kings Park - during one eight-hour shift in December.

The luncheon, held at Chateau La Mer in Lindenhurst, was MADD's Long Island affiliate's third annual for law enforcement. The group lobbies government, runs anti-drunken-driving panels and represents families of people killed in alcohol-involved crashes.

The catering hall donated the luncheon to the group, said MADD's Kristyn Hovanec, a development officer.

View Original>>>

Tonight At 11pm - Offer Of Free Lunch Gets One Man Out Of Drunk Driving Charge

How can a lunch lead to someone getting out of DWI? 

A 2 wants to know investigation looked into an offer by a lieutenant in the Guilford County Sheriff's Department. 

The offer leads to one man getting out of a drunk driving charge. 

That fact upset the father of a drunk driving victim who believes the sheriff's department was in the right. 

"The people getting into cars and drinking and driving are doing the drinking. The evidence is there, they are blowing over the limit." said Chuck Kennedy. "They chose to do that. I don't see where that has any effect on how our law enforcement should behave to catch these drunk drivers." 

2 Wants to Know's Frank Mickens gets answers on how the driver got off and what it could mean to future DWI cases. 

You can watch the full story tonight at 11 on WFMY News 2.

View Original>>>

DWI Contest Gets Case Thrown Out

Greensboro, NC -- Drunk drivers kill innocent people every day. Some questionable actions by those who are supposed to protect us could comprise dozens of local DWI cases.

"I think it was misconstrued, and there was nothing wrong with what we did," says Major Tom Shepherd of the Guilford County Sheriff's Department.

It came as a shock to us, investigators having a contest just to do their jobs. That contest outweighed the court's role in determining one man's guilt or innocence.

It was a routine stop according to Major Shepherd, except for the fact the driver was a Greensboro Police Officer.

"In my opinion and everyone else's opinion who has looked at this, he had reasonable suspicion to stop that vehicle. He did nothing wrong."

But, a judge didn't see it the same way and threw out the case.

"Law enforcement should not have incentives to make arrests or to charge citizens," says Joel Oakley, defense attorney for the officer.

Joel Oakley describes that incentive as a contest.

"The problem is when they are using incentive to get something other than mere protection. Instead of me being out here doing my normal job I am going to find someone doing something just to charge them just to see if I can win."

In an effort to stress DWI's in district two, a lieutenant offered a free lunch to the deputy who made the most case.

"You're talking about paying for a five-dollar lunch, to me that's nothing. That's not a quota system, that's not asking people go chase all around Guilford County looking for drunk drivers," says Maj. Shepherd.

"You don't see anything wrong with them having a motivation to make arrests?" asks Frank Mickens from WFMY News 2.

"No, and every law enforcement agency in Guilford County does the same thing," answers Maj. Shepherd. "What he was trying to do was to advance the goals of the Sheriff's Department and get drunk drivers off the roads in Guilford County."

The Guilford County Sheriff's Department couldn't answer questions about how many deputies were involved and how long the contest ran. This creates another question: how many cases could this possibly affect?

"If some body comes in that was charged during the period which this contest was going on which those cases could very much still be alive, it usually takes more than six months to trial, cases could be out there, yes," says Joel Oakley.

"I don't care what it takes. We have got to get drunk drivers off the road, to hold them responsible for what they do. My daughter is dead because of a drunk driver," says Chuck Kennedy, who lost his daughter to a drunk driver.

Kennedy disagrees with the judge. He feels even if there was an incentive, people were still driving drunk.

"There are more rights in the criminal system then the victims. The individual was still drunk, he blew over the legal limit and should be held accountable for it."

"So what happened to the person who made this arrangement with his subordinates?" asks Frank Mickens.

"Nothing. He was told that was probably not the best way to go about it as far as the public perception. But other than that nothing," responds Maj. Shepherd.

"This is not something you're aware of happening on a regular basis in the Guilford County Sheriff's Department?"

"I've never heard of it happening before," replies the major. "This particular situation won't happen again."

The Greensboro Police officer who got pulled over eventually had his case expunged from court records.

The department reprimanded him, but he is still a member of the force.

While the Sheriff's Department couldn't tell us how many deputies were involved or for how long, we looked at the DWI arrests at that time, dozens of cases could be affected by the contest.

View Original>>>

Man rams funeral procession after wife killed

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. -- A Surry County man is facing charges due to his reaction after his wife was killed and son injured in an accident.

Sheriff Graham Atkinson says the accident happened Wednesday afternoon on Quaker Road in Mount Airy.

According to Atkinson, 28-year-old Laura Seal ran her car into a fire truck that was taking part in a funeral procession. She died instantly.

Seal’s son, 3-year-old Levi Willard, was ejected from the vehicle and is now in fair condition at Baptist Hospital.

Atkinson says Mitchell Willard heard about the accident involving his family and went to the scene. Officers say he then intentionally rammed some of the cars involved in the procession.

Willard later turned himself into authorities and is facing charges for assault with a deadly weapon.

View Original>>>

Man gets 8 years in DWI crash killing unborn child

WACO — A man was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison for a drunken driving accident that killed his unborn child and another driver.

Jurors deliberated about five hours before deciding on the penalty for Mark Allen Brown, 22, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to two counts each of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault in the crash two years ago.

Jurors also sentenced him to probation to be served after he is released: five years for his unborn son’s death, five years for his girlfriend’s injuries and 10 years for the intoxication assault charge involving injuries to a passenger in the other car. Brown also was fined $5,000.

Because his vehicle was considered a deadly weapon, he must serve at least four years before he is eligible for parole. He faced up to 20 years in prison.

Brown testified that after he got home from his all-night shift at a grocery store and drank a couple of beers, his girlfriend — who was seven months’ pregnant — complained of abdominal pains. He told jurors he did not believe he was too drunk to drive her to the hospital.

His blood-alcohol level later was found to be .09, just above the state’s legal limit of .08, according to testimony.

Brown said the wet road caused his car to hydroplane and collide with another car, killing Jesse Franklin, 81, of Hillsboro, and injuring Franklin’s wife.

Three troopers testified that Brown said they were on their way to a shopping mall.

View Original>>>

Panayiota Demetriou with her mother and brother Kyriacos. The Pace University psych student was killed Nov. 16.

"I have nothing against God, I believe she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't believe it was her fate or destiny to die there. Her life was taken by somebody who was irresponsible.

"Sure, life goes on, but life will never, ever be the same. Our life has been blackened forever. She was the shining star of our house."

Panayiota, 30, was hailed as a brilliant student. She was returning home after celebrating the completion of her doctoral dissertation when she was killed Nov. 16.

Police say Daryush Omar was drunk when he slammed his car into her livery cab, killing both her and driver Bessy Velasquez.

Omar, who had a suspended license, is also suspected of fatally beating and robbing banker Thomas Whitney Jr. outside a Manhattan club in 2006.

The murder prosecution stalled and Omar couldn't be deported because neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan - the countries to which he has ties - would take him.

Demetris Demetriou - who came to New York with sons Andreas, 26, and Kyriacos, 22 - wants to make sure Omar doesn't slip through any more loopholes.

The family is to meet with representatives of the Queens district attorney's office to press the issue, said their lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.

"This family wants the maximum criminal punishment to set an example so no other family will have to suffer such a horrible tragedy," Rubenstein said.

On Sunday, the three men will receive Panayiota Demetriou's bound psychology dissertation and doctorate diploma from Pace University at a ceremony that is bound to emotional.

A group of her classmates defended her dissertation before a school panel to ensure her posthumous appointment as a Ph.D. in psychology.

Panayiota Demetriou had just finished the paper on the night of her death and went out to celebrate with best friend Eleni Toumarides.

"I feel very lucky to have lived her last moments with her, knowing how happy she was," said Toumarides, who was dropped in Astoria minutes before the accident.

Panayiota Demetriou is buried in her homeland - in a plot her father bought several years ago for himself, next to his own father.

"Little did I know it would be one of my children buried there," he said.

An auditorium at her high school in Cyprus has been named in Demetriou's honor, and the family is setting up a foundation.

"Our goal is to keep her memory alive because my sister didn't live long enough to achieve her dreams," said Kyriacos Demetriou.

Andreas Demetriou has done that with words he had tattooed on his torso:

"So suddenly you left and slipped away. Taken by angels. Why couldn't you stay? Was it to be? Was it your fate? In my life you sparkled so bright. My sister in heaven. Again we'll meet.

View Original>>>

Schenectady officer charged with DWI

COLONIE, N.Y. -- Marked by the gash on his head, Schenectady Police Officer Michael Brown stood outside Colonie Town Court waiting to face charges of DWI and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. 

Colonie police said Brown was driving drunk Sunday night when he hit a stopped car, injuring a person in that car, at the intersection of Route 9 and Osborne Road. They said Brown took off but was found stopped just down the road where he refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton said, "You would think that someone who is a police officer would at least have enough common sense to not let him or herself get into that situation."

Stratton has seen his fair share of these situations lately. In late December, Assistant Chief Michael Seber was involved in a car accident with allegations of driving under the influence of alcohol swirling. But since the quality of the police report was so poor, police couldn't prove anything. That led to three members of the department facing disciplinary action. Then in mid-January, Officer John Lewis was arrested for the third time in two months after a fight with his brother. He had already been arrested for DWI and aggravated harassment. After the DWI, he was suspended without pay for 30 days. Then last month, the highest paid officer on the force, Dwayne Johnson, who earned nearly $170,000 was suspended without pay while the department investigates his abuse of overtime. 

"It seems that with every week that goes by, there's something new," said Mayor Stratton. "But I can assure you that with every step and with every step backward, we are seizing the opportunity to clear these officers out of the department."

So Stratton says he's given the police chief and Commissioner Wayne Bennett the green light to consider all forms of discipline, including firing Officer Brown, in hopes of sending a strong message that the department will not tolerate police officers breaking the law. It's a message Bennett agrees with because he says most of the force is sick of being embarrassed. 

"Everybody's looking at them in the same negative light, and that's simply not fair to them," said Bennett. "They're tired of it. We're tired of it. We're going to impose some harsh disciplinary action where the circumstances warranted it."

We'll have to wait and see what happens to Brown as the case and investigation unfold. Right now, he's suspended for 30 days without pay, which Mayor Stratton points out, puts an added burden on other officers who have to work overtime to pick up the slack and on the taxpayers who have to pay for it. 

We'll have to wait and see what happens to Brown as the case and investigation unfold. 

Right now he's suspended for 30 days without pay, which Mayor Stratton points out, puts an added burden on other officers who have to work overtime to pick up his slack and on the taxpayers who have to pay for it.

View Original>>>

Man involved in crash that killed three had long history of citations

A man involved in a January crash that killed three people now faces upgraded charges in a previous DWI case, after prosecutors admitted that he was charged with first offense DWI three times because of legal oversights.

The criminal background of Todd C. Vincent, 39, of Erath, came to light in January after the St. Mary Parish wreck that killed 40-year-old Priscilla Williams, her 15-year-old daughter Kadijah Williams and 41-year-old brother Leroy Williams, all of Franklin.

The crash happened on La. 318 after Vincent allegedly drove his 2004 Ford truck into the direct path of Priscilla Williams' vehicle and hit it head on.

Vincent, who has an extensive traffic violation history, faces charges of driving left of center and operating a vehicle with an invalid driver's license in the crash, but could face more - including vehicular homicide charges - if drugs or alcohol are shown to be involved. State police are still waiting for test results in the case.

At the time of the January crash, Vincent's license was suspended for 180 days - until May 14 - for another head-on collision on Nov. 15, after which he refused to take a drug test.

Vincent was arrested in November on one count of DWI first offense, driving left of center and no driver's license in possession. Even though the Nov. 15 incident was the third time Vincent had faced a DWI charge, prosecutors district attorneys handling the case only filed charges against him for a first offense.

Before this incident, Vincent was charged with DWI first offense and careless operation for a July 9 incident and had a DWI dating back to 2006, as well.

While the Nov. 15 case has worked its way through the courts with Vincent pleading no contest and being sentenced to six months probation, the July 9 charges have not been disposed, and an arraignment date is set for March 24.

In January, District Attorney Mike Harson said Vincent's Nov. 15 first offense DWI charge would be upgraded, but since Vincent had already pleaded, prosecutors amended the July 2008 charge instead.

Last month, Assistant District Attorney Aimee Hebert, who has handled all of Vincent's traffic violations, filed an amendment to the bill of information regarding the July 9 incident and upgraded the DWI first offense charge to DWI second offense.

"On or about the 9th day of July 2008, Todd C. Vincent did willfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle upon La. Highway 685, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, while intoxicated; and on or about the 15th day of November, 2008, did willfully and unlawfully operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated and was convicted of said charge on the 9th day of December, 2008," the amended bill of information states.

On Nov. 15, a Vermilion Parish sheriff's deputy wrote on a DWI report that after reading Vincent his Miranda rights, Vincent "then asked if he was going to get another DWI."

The same report said he admitted to taking Oxycontin tablets and smoking marijuana hours before that crash.

Harson, who acknowledges that he is acquaintances with Vincent's father, said a mistake led to the dismissal of the first of three DWI charges Vincent received.

Vincent got his first DWI arrest in June 2006, but prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges on July 7, 2007.

Somewhere along the line, Harson said the instructions were misconstrued causing the charges to be dismissed.

"I'm going to acknowledge the matter was dismissed, and it was done in error," Harson said.

By the time Vincent received a second DWI charge on July 9, 2008, Harson said the two-year deadline to file the initial charge again had passed, which caused the July 2008 charge to be classified as a first offense.

A second DWI offense carries a minimum penalty of 30 days to six months in jail, according to state law.

In more legal troubles for Vincent, there was a bench warrant issued for him for failure to appear at a Feb. 19 status conference to monitor his progress on his recent court sentence for the Nov. 15 incident.

It is unknown if Vincent has resolved the bench warrant.

View Original>>>

Three Injured in LI Crash, Driver Charged with DWI

View Original>>>

MADD wants ignition interlocks for DWI offenders

Jony Ventura and his 4-year-old daughter, Gabriela, were killed by a Houston woman with a prior drunken-driving conviction who was reportedly driving the wrong way on Texas 249 and struck their car.

Condition of probation

Devices get sophisticated

Sometimes, Harris County judges or prosecutors will order a first-time offender to install an interlock as a condition of bail or probation, but the law does not require it.

Two sides to legislation

Penland’s mother, Ann, of Deer Park, supports MADD’s push for ignition interlocks for all DWI convictions.

Only eight states in the U.S. require or “provide strong incentives for” interlocks for all convicted drunken drivers, MADD says: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico and Washington. MADD is pushing for all other states to follow suit.

LOCAL INTERLOCKS

How many Harris County drivers use ignition interlocks is unknown. The Department of Public Safety tracks such numbers statewide, but not by county.

In the past two years, Harris County’s criminal county courts, which handle misdemeanor cases, ordered 4,063 defendants to install ignition interlocks once their cases were resolved. 

The administrative office for Harris County’s district criminal courts, which handles felony cases, could not provide any interlock numbers.

RECENT FATALITIES

Deaths attributed to repeat DWI offenders:

• Feb. 21: A father and his 4-year-old daughter are killed by a Houston woman with a prior drunken-driving conviction who is driving the wrong way on Texas 249.

• Feb. 12: A Pasadena man, previously charged in a fatal drunken-driving crash, is killed by a drunken driver who also pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated last year.

• Feb. 11: A La Porte man with four prior drunken-driving convictions kills another driver in a head-on crash.

• Dec. 16: A 13-year-old is run over exiting a school bus in northwest Harris County. It is the 30-year-old man’s second drunken-driving arrest.

• Nov. 13: A man kills a 3-year-old boy and critically injures his mother in a crash in northeast Harris County. The crash marks his third drunken-driving charge.

View Original>>>

Jaguars' Reggie Williams Arrested in Houston

Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Reggie Williams, expected to leave the team as a free agent, faces DWI and marijuana possession charges. 

A Houston police department spokesman says the 25-year-old Williams was arrested early Friday after he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop and officers smelled marijuana. Both charges are Class B misdemeanors.

Williams was the ninth player selected in the 2004 draft. He has caught 189 passes for 2,322 yards and 18 touchdowns in his NFL career. He had 37 receptions for 364 yards and three touchdowns last season.

The Jaguars' media relations office and Williams' agent did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.

The arrest was first reported by Houston television station KRIV.

View Original>>>

A DWI crash last week has left a star high school athlete with serious head injuries. Tonight, Austin White's basketball team will play for the first time without him.

The Honeoye community is coming together after three high school seniors were involved in a drunk-driving crash last Tuesday night.

White has serious head injuries. He is still in the intensive care unit in guarded condition. His girlfriend, Kelly Hoertz, is now home recovering from a fractured skull. The alleged drunk driver, Dylan Jobson, had minor injuries.

Austin is the co-captain of the Honeoye basketball team. His family calls the 17-year-old's life a fairy tale. His girlfriend, Kelly is a captain of the cheerleading squad. His best friend, Dylan, is also a star athlete but everything changed last Tuesday night.

All three were in a car that lost control on Sunset Drive in Canadice right near Jobson's home. The car slammed into a tree. Austin wasn't wearing a seat belt and suffered the worst injury but the high school and entire Honeoye community has been showing its support.

Students are wearing Austin and Kelly shirts. Everyone, including his parents, are hoping for the best. They spoke exclusively with News 10NBC. His mother, Cathy White-Barber said, "I won't leave the bedside. I'm right there and we're going to be there for him and he looks great."

Austin's father Roy said, "I've never seen so many young people actually pray and it's big support, it's huge and we feel that some of that strength that Austin has gained and the good news is because of the energy that's been around us."

It will be an emotional basketball game for Honeoye tonight. They're playing at Bloomfield to start the sectionals without their star player.

SPARTA -- A 58-year-old Sparta woman was hospitalized with head injuries after the car she was driving collided head-on with a car being driven by a 19-year-old Sparta man who allegedly was driving while intoxicated, police said.

Police responded to the accident on Lafayette Road on Friday at 3:52 p.m. and found a red Saab 9-3 in the southbound lane with extensive damage to the driver's side of the vehicle.

Linda McDonald, the driver of the Saab, was taken to Newton Hospital for head injuries by the Sparta First Aid Squad, police said.

The second vehicle involved, a silver Subaru, was about 100 yards north of the accident scene. The driver, David Warrington, 19, of Sparta, was arrested for underage DWI.

Warrington was additionally issued motor vehicle summonses for careless driving, failing to keep right, failing to maintain lane and failing to produce a valid insurance card.

He was released pending a required court appearance.

View Original>>>