DWI Blogs

St. Petersburg, Florida -- The assistant city attorney for St. Petersburg has been arrested for driving under the influence.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office website states that Mark Winn was arrested early Sunday morning for DUI and refusing to submit to a sobriety test. Both charges are misdemeanors.

The Tampa Bay Times reports Winn was pulled over at 32nd Avenue N and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street, where the officer observed bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol.

The Sheriff's Office site lists two previous arrests for DUI. In 2006, Winn was arrested for a DUI crash, while in 2008 he was arrested for DUI and again refusing to submit to testing. The Times reports his license was suspended on both occasions.

"There will be some action taken," Winn's boss, City Attorney John Wolfe told the Times. "I have to balance out his value to the city and the seriousness of the third arrest."



Source : http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2014/12/02/st-pete-city-attorney-arrested-dui-third-time/19778263/

RESEDA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities arrested a 24-year-old man Saturday and accused him of driving under the influence in a multi-vehicle crash that killed an 89-year-old woman in Reseda.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers were sent to the area of Wilbur Avenue and Victory Boulevard around midnight.
Lorenzo Gonzalez of Pacoima was driving a Volkswagen Jetta westbound on Victory near Wilbur Avenue about 12:20 a.m., when his car rear-ended a Nissan Altima driven by 55-year-old Moises Montano, Loa Angeles Police Sgt. William Kelly said.
A passenger in the Altima, an 89-year-old woman from Palmdale, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was later identified as Justina Lerrea.


Source : http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/11/16/1-killed-driver-arrested-in-reseda-multi-vehicle-crash/

A Park Ridge police officer was charged with driving under the influence after he crashed into a utility pole in the northwest suburb this weekend, police said.

Kevin Ryan, 39, was charged with DUI, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving off the roadway, improper lane usage and driving without a seat belt, said Lou Jogmen, deputy police chief.

Ryan hit a pole near Belle Plaine Avenue and Canfield Road about 3:50 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Suburban Chicago arrest photos
Suburban Chicago arrest photos
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Ryan had worked as a school resource officer at Maine East a few years ago, but most recently worked the day shift as a patrol officer, Chief Frank Kaminski said.

He was given a certificate of appreciation for seven years of dedication and service as the school resource officer, according to a December 2011 newsletter distributed by the police department.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/park-ridge-niles/chi-park-ridge-police-dui-20141029-story.html

A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and DUI following a multi-vehicle crash in Santa Ana that left an 18-year-old man dead and five others injured, authorities announced Sunday.

Robert Rubio, 18, was killed in a multi-vehicle crash in Santa Ana on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, authorities said.
Robert Rubio, 18, was killed in a multi-vehicle crash in Santa Ana on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, authorities said.
Herbert Granados Calderon was driving on a suspended license at the time of the collision, according to a statement from the Santa Ana Police Department. His license had previously been suspended for driving under the influence, the statement said.


Source: http://ktla.com/2014/10/26/suspected-dui-crash-in-santa-ana-http://ktla.com/2014/10/26/suspected-dui-crash-in-santa-ana-leaves-teenager-dead-5-injured/leaves-teenager-dead-5-injured/

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Former teen idol David Cassidy was ordered to enter alcohol rehab for three months after pleading no contest to a drunken driving charge in Los Angeles on Monday.
Cassidy, 63, must also serve five years' probation, pay fines and take part in a nine-month alcohol education program.
He was arrested after a California Highway Patrol officer stopped him for making an illegal turn at a red light near the Los Angeles International Airport in January.
The singer-actor blew .19 -- twice the legal level -- on an alcohol test administered by the officer who stopped his rented Chevrolet Impala, according to a California Highway Patrol statement.
It was his second DUI arrest in six months and third since 2011.
His manager told CNN several days after his latest arrest that Cassidy's drinking was the result of stressful questioning he had just undergone by lawyers about a legal dispute regarding "Partridge Family" profits.
"David just completed a stint in rehab and was doing very well in sobriety," manager Jo-Ann Geffen said.


Source : http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/24/showbiz/david-cassidy-dui-plea/

A 25-year-old woman has filed a federal lawsuit against a California Highway Patrol officer who allegedly used excessive force during a suspected DUI arrest in 2012.
Standing outside the U.S. District Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles last Friday, Aloni Bonilla claimed Officer Jose A. Ramirez also violated her civil rights.
Department officials declined to comment because the litigation is ongoing, said CHP spokesman Officer Jose Barrios.
Bonilla said she was driving from her Baldwin Park home to a friend’s house in Alhambra around 1:30 a.m. on March 21, 2012, when she was pulled over on the west 10 Freeway.
She was driving on a section of the freeway that had been shut down, but never saw any traffic signs warning her of the closure when she took the Francisquito Avenue onramp.
After a Breathalyzer test detected traces of alcohol, the Cal State Los Angeles student was taken to a hospital for a blood sample, she said. At the hospital, she claimed the officer became confrontational.


Source : http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-federal-lawsuit-chp-officer-20140321,0,1598145.story#axzz2wyMrhjjb

The State Highway Patrol fired a trooper who was accused of driving while heavily intoxicated and hitting two parked cars in the Short North.

Jeremy Garner, 35, of the South Side, was charged with drunken driving, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to control after the Feb.16 incident on Starr Avenue near N. High Street.

The motorcycle officer was fired for conduct unbecoming an officer last week, after an investigation by the patrol. That investigation revealed other troopers with him at Skully’s Music Diner noticed he appeared to be drunk and unsuccessfully tried to prevent him from driving.


Source : http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/03/25/trooper-is-fired-after-latest-drunken-driving-arrest.html

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- We now know the names of two women who were killed when a suspected drunk driver slammed his pickup truck into a car in Santa Rosa Saturday night.

At about 5:20 p.m., 74-year-old Sharon Hufford and her 53-year-old daughter-in-law Susan Hufford were sitting in the back seat of a Toyota Camry that was heading east on Highway 12 when the car slowed in traffic and was struck from behind by a pickup truck.

CHP Officer Guillermo Garcia says the impact obliterated the back seat of the Camry and pushed the car forward into a third vehicle.
Officials say both died instantly.
According to the CHP, two men sitting in the front seats of the Camry suffered moderate and major injuries, and two people in the third vehicle involved were not injured.

The driver of the truck, who was later identified as 30-year-old Rohnert Park resident Nicholas Lee Tognozzi, was not injured.

Susan worked as a music teacher for the Mark West Union School District. The district superintendent described her in an email to parents as a "magnificent teacher who touched so many lives."

The CHP says Tognozzi told officers he looked down to read a text message right before the crash.

He was arrested for vehicular manslaughter and suspected drunk driving and booked at Sonoma County Jail.


 
Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/north_bay&id=9468332

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - Illinois State Police say two people are accused of drunken driving after a car rear-ended a trooper’s cruiser during a southwestern Illinois traffic stop.
The Belleville News-Democrat reports the three weren’t seriously injured during the wreck that happened around 3:30 a.m. Saturday along Interstate 64 in East St. Louis.
Trooper Calvin Dye says the officer was completing paperwork in his patrol car while 32-year-old Brent Daugherty of St. Louis was in the back seat after being pulled over for suspected drunken driving. That’s when a sport utility vehicle driven by 28-year-old Vastie Jenkins of O’Fallon hit the trooper’s car from behind.
The officer’s name wasn’t released.


Source: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/03/10/dui-charges-after-crash-with-state-police-car/

SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) — Police arrested a Santa Rosa man with 19 DUI convictions over 30 years for driving on a suspended license Friday afternoon.
Petaluma police, who were conducting a special Habitual DUI Driver Stakeout Program that targets repeat DUI offenders in Sonoma County, received a tip recently that 68-year-old William Beall was driving his Mercedes on a suspended license, Sgt. Jim Stephenson said.
Police staked out Beall’s Oak Lane home in Santa Rosa and saw him drive away around 2 p.m. He was not intoxicated when he was pulled over, Stephenson said.
Beall is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Sonoma County Superior Court.



Source:http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/03/08/north-bay-man-with-19-dui-convictions-arrested-for-driving-on-suspended-license/

MARPLE — An Upper Darby police officer out on medical leave was arrested on drunken driving charges Tuesday after a hit-and-run crash on North New Ardmore Avenue, officials said.

William Tobin, 43, was arrested Tuesday night after the driver of the vehicle he allegedly struck followed him until police arrived.



Tobin, who has been with the Upper Darby Police Department for about 19 years, has been out on medical leave for about seven months due to an injury sustained on the job, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
Tobin, of Marple, was allegedly behind the wheel of a silver Nissan Murano that struck another vehicle at North New Ardmore Avenue at West Chester Pike, then fled the scene.


Source: http://www.delconewsnetwork.com/articles/2014/03/07/news_of_delaware_county/news/doc5319a7aa326a5331296119.txt

KULPMONT - A Shamokin man was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol following a crash in the 900 block of Chestnut Street early Friday morning that left the street littered with debris and one vehicle atop a snowbank.

Kulpmont Police Patrolman Patrick McAndrew said charges are pending against Joseph Payne, 29, who refused a blood test shortly after crashing his car into a parked car at 12:30 a.m.

McAndrew said Payne, who was uninjured, was operating a 2001 Saturn west on Chestnut Street (Route 61) when the right front of his vehicle struck the left rear of a parked Saturn, owned by David Dallabrida, of 922 Chestnut St., causing extensive damage to both vehicles.

The Dallabrida vehicle was moved partially onto the sidewalk and snow pile and into the back of a parked Jeep Cherokee, owned by Patrick Burns, 936 Chestnut St., causing damage to the front end of the Saturn and the right rear of the Cherokee.

McAndrew said Payne claimed he lost control when he hit a patch of black ice while looking down at his phone.


Source: http://newsitem.com/news/man-in-custody-after-suspected-dui-crash-in-kulpmont-1.1646846

Judge Clifford Anderson sentenced 25-year-old Kate Hatrey Walters on Monday to four years of probation for a DUI collision last May that left her 3-year-old son with a broken neck. Walters, who was also ordered to a residential treatment facility, faced a maximum sentence of 10 years and 8 months in prison. Prosecutors had declined to offer Walters any kind of plea deal and argued against probation. According to Senior Deputy District Attorney Arnis Tolks, Walters pleaded guilty to DUI and child-abuse charges, along with a number of enhancements. If Walters violates her probation, Tolks went on, she’ll be sentenced to prison.
On May 19, 2013, Walters started drinking early in the day before traveling with a friend and her young son to Harry’s Plaza Café at around 5 p.m. Police said at the time that Walters and her friend were eventually kicked out when they became unruly and argumentative with restaurant staff. Employees called them a cab, but they continued to make a scene outside Harry’s, so staff called police at around 7:00 p.m. Before officers arrived, Walters put her son in the car in his child seat — which an investigation showed hadn’t been properly installed — and drove off.


Source:http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/04/woman-sentenced-probation-dui-crash-broke-3-year-o/?on

Witnesses say a Richmond, Virginia, police officer helped his daughter avoid drunken driving charges early Sunday morning after she nearly struck some pedestrians after running two stop signs.

Residents had gone outside about 12:30 a.m. after someone struck a parked SUV when they saw another driver speed through a stop sign without slowing down.

“We were forced to flee the street towards the sidewalk as we realized that this was not another cop rushing to the scene, but a driver who has clearly failed to notice a stop sign, an automobile accident, and flashing police lights, and is headed straight for a head-on collision with the wrecked SUV,” said witness S. Preston Duncan, of Church Hill, in a Facebook post shared by Richmond police.
He said the driver slammed on the brakes of her car, swerved around the damaged vehicles, and nearly struck a parked police cruiser with its sirens flashing.

“She was crying hysterically, hitting her head on the steering wheel,” Duncan said. “At one point she got out of the car and spilled the entire contents of her purse on the street.”

Police repeatedly asked the woman to get back into her car, and Duncan said he and least one other person heard one of the officer’s agree to speak to the driver’s father on a cell phone if she called him.


Source:http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/05/cell-phone-video-shows-virginia-cop-help-daughter-avoid-dui-charges-witnesses-say/

A Seminole County deputy arrested over the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence nearly fell over during a sobriety test, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report released Wednesday.

Robert Marc Futch, 42, was arrested early Sunday after a trooper saw him speeding and drifting into lanes on Orange Blossom Trail.

The trooper said Futch's eyes were glassy and bloodshot, his words slurred and he smelled like alcohol.
Futch performed several sobriety tests, and the trooper said he nearly fell over during the "walk and turn" exercise.

Futch, a road deputy who has worked for the Seminole County Sheriff's Office since 2001, told the trooper the arrest "was going to kill his career."



Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-seminole-deputy-arrested-dui-20140305,0,3667692.story

Justin Bieber was pulled over for a DUI in Miami a few weeks ago - but for some reason, rather bizarre photos and videos from the singer's infamous arrest continue going viral online.

The 20-year-old "Believe" crooner has some bada$$ tattoos... or at least he thinks so.

While getting booked in jail, the Biebs started showing off his body ink to the arresting officers. The Miami PD snapped some pics (probably to keep as identification), and it's pretty funny to see how "gangsta" Bieber acts in front of the camera. Check out the recently released photos here.



Source:http://www.mstarz.com/articles/27179/20140305/justin-bieber-flaunts-badass-tattoos-flashes-penis-during-dui-arrest-video-biebs-peeing-miami-jail-go-viral-soon.htm

Editor's note: Kerry Kennedy wants Westchester County to prosecute anyone who drives under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Kennedy, 54, was acquitted by a jury Friday of driving under the influence of a prescription sleep aid. She appeared Monday on NBC’s “Today” show to talk about the trial and her work.
“When asked by NBC on Monday, I said that every person whom the district attorney and police officers believe to be guilty of the crime of driving under the influence should be prosecuted,” she said in a statement to the Daily News.
“That’s where our resources should be spent. We cannot have criminal drunk or drugged drivers on our roads. What we should not do is prosecute people who the district attorney and police believe to be innocent of the crime, simply because of county protocol requiring all cases to be pursued.”
The Daily News reported on Tuesday that Kennedy thought it was a “terrible policy” to pursue every single case of driving under the influence. She argued on the show that it was bad policy to prosecute the cases “whether the police think the person’s innocent, whether the DA thinks they’re innocent.”


Source:http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/kerry-kennedy-buying-good-lawyers-helped-beat-drugged-driving-rap-article-1.1708774

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Sandor Guillen has been found guilty of DUI manslaughter and two other charges for the death of 13-year-old Kaely Camacho.
The jury deliberated more than two hours and asked a question of the judge during deliberations Monday afternoon. The unanimous verdict convicted Guillen of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Guillen was extremely calm as the verdict was being read. He had spent time before the verdict was read hugging and kissing his family members, according to CBS4′s Brian Andrews.
Guillen was taken into custody after the jury’s verdict was announced around 4:20 p.m. His defense team asked for bond before sentencing, but Judge Ellen Venzer denied the request saying the fact that Guillen showed up an hour late to court Monday gave her “great pause.”
When the verdict was read, Kaely’s sister, Bree Anne, wept as did Kaely’s mother Angie who was was relieved, heartbroken and angry.
“Not only did we have to live with this once, but having to go through this all over again this trial is bringing up a lots of painful memories, all because someone won’t take responsibility,” said Angela Camacho. “It’s been really, really hard.”
Kirk Camacho, Kaely’s father who was driving the van, spoke following the verdict. Guillen claimed that Kaely’s father had taken the red light–but the jury didn’t believe him.
“Thank God justice prevailed,” said Kirk Camacho. With the cameras present, he also took the time to thank Mothers Against Drunk Driving, prosecutors, the officers involved, as well as the jury.


Source: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/03/03/closing-arguments-set-to-begin-in-guillen-dui-manslaughter-trial/

EL CAJON - A woman who was drunk when she lost control of her car, triggering a series of crashes on Interstate 8 near Alpine that killed two people, was sentenced Monday to nine years in state prison.

Sunny Hall, 31, pleaded guilty in December to two counts each of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in the June 11, 2012, deaths of 25- year-old substitute teacher and UCSD graduate student Angela August of Alpine and 59-year-old Calexico teacher Jimmy Arevalo of El Centro.

More than two dozen supporters of the August family showed up in court wearing buttons with a photo of Angela August and the words "For the love of Angela."

A hush fell over the courtroom when Dawn August addressed the judge.

"I have waited 630 days to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of my only beloved daughter, Angela. Her story needs to be told and heard. Angela was a bright, shiny, free-spirited star, artist and scholar," she said.

Angela August was just days away from graduating with honors from the University of California San Diego when she rolled her car in the median of Interstate 8 near Alpine. Moments later, Jimmy Arevalo stopped his car and called 911 to help.


Source:http://www.10news.com/news/sentencing-today-for-woman-who-killed-2-in-drunk-driving-crash-030314

The woman accused of burning down The Senator, one of the world's largest baldcypress trees, has been arrested again — this time on a DUI charge out of Maitland, according to an arrest report.

Sara Barnes, 28, was pulled over Friday afternoon on U.S. Highway 17-92 after she made a wheel-squealing wide turn onto Horatio Avenue, before cutting off another vehicle, the report states.

The arresting officer reported that Barnes' speech was slurred, her breath smelled strongly of alcohol, and she handed over a real-estate brochure, rather than her registration and insurance.
Barnes, who admitted drinking vodka before driving, failed several field-sobriety tests, the report states. A pair of blood-alcohol tests registered .192 and .194, more than double the legal limit.

On the way to Orange County's DUI center, Barnes began to cry, telling the arresting officer that she "did jail time for burning down the 'Senator' but she actually loves trees," the report says.


Source:http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-sara-barnes-senator-suspect-dui-20140302,0,778195.story