News Articles

A MAN who swung a kitten by its tail and slammed it repeatedly on to a road as his friends laughed was yesterday given a one-year good behaviour bond.

Jamie Stephen Thorley, 23, of Doonside in Sydney's west, could have faced a jail sentence of up to two years for the brutal attack which killed the three-month-old kitten on May 31 this year.

But instead Parramatta Local Court Magistrate Geraldine Beattie made Thorley agree to be of good behaviour for one year after being found guilty of aggravated animal cruelty, resisting police arrest and malicious damage.

The RSPCA said yesterday they were concerned that the good behaviour bond would send the wrong message to the community.

RSPCA chief inspector David O'Shannessy said the attack had been particularly cruel.

"The sentence is disappointing from the point of view that this animal died as a consequence of the attack," Mr O'Shannessy said.

"It would have been a fairly horrific way to die and the fact that similar offences in similar months have met with more severe penalties in the form of custodial sentences.

"We're certainly happy in other matters where custodial sentences have been given - our concern is a sentence such as this could be misconstrued by members of the public.

"Animal cruelty to defenceless animals is unacceptable."

The court had heard Thorley was drunk when he picked up the kitten on Delany St, Doonside. He stroked it at first before swinging it by its tail over his head and repeatedly slamming it into the road.

Thorley and the friends he was with laughed as the attack unfolded.

Thorley told the court he had no recollection of the event because he had mixed 350ml of rum with his schizophrenia medication that day.

When the attack took place Thorley was supposed to be facing Wyong Local Court answering charges of break and enter and stealing a car.

Under NSW's tough new animal cruelty laws, an aggravated matter carries with it a maximum two-year jail term.

In a test case of the new laws, a 45-year-old Blackett man was jailed for a year in June after torturing and trying to drown a kitten.

Man sentenced to 24 years for fatal DUI
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By Jeff Borgardt
Special to the Tribune

August 31, 2006, 7:00 PM CDT

A 30-year-old Lyons man was sentenced to 24 years in prison Thursday for the drunken driving crash that killed three members of a Chicago family three years ago on a McCook overpass near Interstate Highway 55.

Jaime Guzman of the 8700 block of West Ogden Avenue pleaded for leniency before Cook County Judge Kerry Kennedy imposed sentence on the reckless homicide conviction in the Bridgeview Courthouse.

But Kennedy had little sympathy for Guzman, who was driving a sport-utility vehicle the wrong way on Illinois Highway 171 at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2003, when it slammed into a mini-van carrying Luis Velazquez, 44, his wife, Norma, 34, and their two children. The couple died, as did their 5-year-old son, Diego. A daughter survived.

Valeria Velazquez, now 7, was in Kennedy's courtroom with several relatives on Thursday.

"You have shown no remorse," the judge said. "You had a choice to drink that night and you decided to. There are consequences for your actions."

Guzman's vehicle was traveling north in the southbound lanes of the highway, also known as 1st Avenue, at more than 50 m.p.h. when it crashed into the Velazquez van.

Homicide charge filed in motorcycle crash
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August 29, 2006

ZION -- A Zion man was charged Monday with driving under the influence and reckless homicide in connection with a crash that killed a motorcyclist early Sunday.

Lake County Circuit Judge Valerie Ceckowski ordered Margarito Morales-Ramirez, 24, held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Zion police said Michael Moll, 49, of Zion was killed just before 3 a.m. Sunday when his motorcycle was struck by an oncoming Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Morales-Ramirez near the intersection of 30th Street and Lewis Avenue.

Moll was pronounced dead at the scene, said Coroner Richard Keller.

Morales-Ramirez, of the 2400 block of Lewis Avenue, was treated for minor injuries. Tests indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.16. The legal limit is 0.08.

West Chicago teen killed, girlfriend hurt in collision
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By Dave Wischnowsky
Tribune staff reporter

August 27, 2006

Chicago Bears tickets in hand, Nick Jannotti said goodbye to his mom Friday afternoon, then hopped into his car, taking off from West Chicago with his girlfriend bound for Soldier Field.

Jannotti wouldn't make it back home.

After Friday night's preseason game and apparently spending part of the night and next morning in the city with friends, state police said, Jannotti, 18, driving his 2002 Cadillac Catera, slammed into the back of a semitrailer about 6:20 a.m. Saturday. He was traveling west on Interstate Highway 290 near Elk Grove Village, about 300 feet from the Biesterfield Road exit, police said.

Jannotti, a 2006 Bartlett High School graduate, was pronounced dead around 10 a.m. at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove village, officials said.

His girlfriend, also a Bartlett graduate, now a freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

"She came away pretty unscathed," said Jannotti's father, John. "She was lucky."

The driver of the semi wasn't seriously injured and declined medical treatment, police said. No citations were issued, police said.

Illinois State Police Sgt. Theodore Whittier said alcohol appears to have been a factor. He said Jannotti was speeding at the time of the crash.

Man sentenced in drunken driving accident that killed 2
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Associated Press

August 25, 2006, 12:03 PM CDT

INDIANAPOLIS -- A man convicted in a drunken driving crash that killed two people, including the father of the groom, as they left a wedding reception was sentenced Friday to 52 years in prison.

Rosalio Pedraza, 32, expressed remorse for the first time to the families of the two men killed and a woman injured in the August 2005 crash.

Marion County jurors last week needed just 25 minutes to convict Pedraza in the crash that killed the father of the groom, Tom Youngstafel, 45, of Burlington, Ky., and Joe Gehler, 30, of Union, Ky. Gehler's longtime girlfriend, Emily Kelly, 30, was injured.

Pedraza had a blood-alcohol content about three times the legal limit for motorists to drive in Indiana when he ran a red light and smashed into a sport utility vehicle leaving the reception at the Indianapolis Zoo.

Pedraza was convicted of two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death and two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury. He was found to be a habitual offender because of two prior convictions for drunken driving, in November 2001 and October 2003.

Kelly testified in favor of more prison time for Pedraza.

"You created this nightmare for me," said Kelly, who spoke along with Gehler's mother and Youngstafel's wife and two sons. "When you killed Joe, you took my life. I will do whatever it takes to never let you forget that."

Vikings release Koren Robinson

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI, AP Sports Writer
August 26, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Wide receiver Koren Robinson was among eight players cut by the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, 10 days after he was charged with drunken driving and fleeing police.

Robinson, who made his first trip to the Pro Bowl as a kick returner last season and signed a three-year, $12.7 million contract extension in March, was one of the Vikings' few bright spots last year.
Former coach Mike Tice convinced Robinson to sign with the team following a stint in an alcohol treatment facility in North Carolina, and the player rewarded Tice's faith with one of the best seasons of his up-and-down five-year career.
But as soon as things started looking up for the oft-troubled Robinson, he was back in jail.
His blue BMW sedan was caught on radar going more than 100 mph in a 55 mph zone on the night of Aug. 15, as he tried to get from the Twin Cities back to the team's training camp headquarters in Mankato for curfew.
When police tried to pull him over, Robinson refused to stop, police said. Robinson was arrested by police about 10 miles away in Mankato, and the criminal complaint said a field test measured Robinson's blood-alcohol content at 0.11 percent.

Man hit by pickup mirror may lose eye
By Gene Haschak
Daily Herald Staff Writer

A 22-year-old St. Charles pedestrian was hit early Tuesday by a man accused of drunken driving, South Elgin police said.

As a result, the man might lose sight in one eye, police said.

Steve Lapradd of 35W354 Bonfield Ave., St. Charles, was walking along Route 25 in South Elgin at 12:30æa.m. when he was hit in the face by the passenger-side mirror of a northbound 2003 Ford pickup driven by John A. Martin III, 40, of 1423 S. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge, police said.

Martin was found wandering near the accident scene on Route 25 about 900 feet north of Middle Street, police said.

Martin failed three sobriety tests and said he had been drinking at the Royal Fox Golf Club in St. Charles, police said.

Martin was charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian and no insurance, according to court documents.

In addition to the severe contusion to his left eye, Lapradd suffered a broken nose, lacerations to his face and arm and a chipped tooth. He was taken to Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva.

Martin was taken to the Kane County jail, where he posted a $1,500 bond. He was released with a preliminary court date on Sept. 14 at the Kane County Judicial Center.

Athlete cites second NCC hazing incident
By Melissa Jenco
Daily Herald Staff Writer

The 2005 North Central College baseball team’s freshman “initiation” was not an isolated case at the school, a former player said Thursday.

The team also was disciplined this spring after taking part in similar antics that included some players wearing diapers and others having alcohol poured down their throats at a freshman initiation party.

Officials at the Naperville school said Wednesday they were launching an investigation into the 2005 incidents, which were captured in more than 100 pictures posted in an online album titled “Frosh Initiation ’05.”

Some of the photos showed players having alcohol poured in their mouths from as many as six liquor bottles at one time. Others showed team members playing baseball in their underwear and still others showed players wearing women’s lingerie.

When questioned about the 2005 incident Wednesday, Laurie Hamen, vice president for enrollment management and student affairs, said she was unaware of any other hazing incidents at North Central.

“I would never say it never happens,” she said. “It hasn’t been reported to us.”

When asked to confirm reports of a second incident with the team, Hamen said she could not discuss judicial incidents involving students.

School officials saw pictures of the 2006 party on the Internet just days later, he said, and coaches punished the team by making them do extra running at practice and temporarily stripping some players of their captain status. (What a freaking joke that punishment!)

5 years for beating up the wrong teens
BY CHRISTY GUTOWSKI
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer

Armed with baseball bats and a "vigilante" vengeance, Ryan R. Thomas went back with friends to the Naperville neighborhood where he had lost a fight over a traffic dispute.

Too bad he couldn't remember with whom he had tussled.

On Thursday, DuPage Circuit Judge Michael Burke sentenced Thomas to five years in prison for beating up three teens who just left a Naperville junior police program and had nothing to do with the original fight.

Thomas, 25, pleaded guilty six months ago to felony armed violence for the brutal Nov. 9, 2002, attack. In return, prosecutors dropped more serious attempted murder charges.

The three teens were standing outside one of their homes on the 300 block of Cedarbrook Road when Thomas and several friends attacked them with baseball bats.

One victim escaped into his house after suffering one blow to his back. He called 911 while the other two, still outside, tried in vain to protect themselves from the armed mob.

"I thought I was going to die," said one of the victims, a Naperville man, now 20, who was the most seriously injured. "I was thinking, 'What did I do?' I did nothing to deserve this beating."

He was in the hospital for five days and endured two surgeries. The three teens' injuries included a dislocated shoulder, cuts, black eyes, bruises and a broken nose and arm.

They recovered physically, but the teens said their emotional scars linger. They complained of anger, distrust, depression and a nagging fear of future attacks.

As part of a civil settlement, Thomas' family paid two of them $70,000 each for medical bills. His guilty plea March 6 spared them an emotional trial. He also apologized Thursday.

"There are no words to describe how sorry I am," he said, looking straight at the victims. "The things that happened that night were completely out of character for me."

Nearly four years ago, the Naperville man got into a traffic dispute at Bailey Road and Washington Street. He admitted following the other motorist home to Cedarbrook, where a fight ensued. Another man jumped into the melee. Thomas, who took a kick to the nose, left, but not without making a threat to return and kill them.

He did come back, this time with a gaggle of friends toting baseball bats. Police tracked Thomas down after conducting several interviews and matching his DNA to dandruff found inside a hat left at the scene.

He did not have a prior criminal record. Thomas was free on bond for the attack in May 2005 when police stopped his car and discovered "hundreds" of pounds of marijuana and at least $100,000 cash.

Authorities said he cooperated with an ensuing federal investigation and, in exchange for his help, drug agents did not pursue criminal charges.

Prosecutors David Johnston and Paul Marchese said Thomas doesn't deserve another break. They also questioned the sincerity of his remorse.

"He doesn't care about these innocent victims," Johnston said. "The defendant is the boogeyman to these young boys. He is a monster to them, and what he did that night was monstrous."

Authorities did not uncover any other evidence of violence in Thomas' past. Defense attorneys Todd Pugh and Tom Breen said Thomas stopped the attack after realizing he had the wrong guys.

His attorneys asked the judge for leniency. They presented two dozen letters from family and friends who describe Thomas as a thoughtful, trustworthy man with remorse.

Thomas has been in jail since his plea six months ago. He is a model inmate, Pugh said, and has participated in classes for anger, religion, computers and job readiness.

"Ryan Thomas is not a bully and he is not a thug," Pugh said. "They can call him every name they want, but he is not a violent person but for that night."

Prosecutors argued Thomas was eligible for consecutive terms of up to 14 years, but the judge disagreed. The defendant faced either probation or three to seven years behind bars.

In meting out the punishment, Judge Michael Burke called Thomas "the leader of what can only be described as an alcohol-and-testosterone-fueled vigilante group."

Thomas must serve half the five-year sentence before he is eligible for parole. Another man also is facing charges for the attack. His case is pending. Police were unable to build strong enough cases to arrest the others.

Man says anger, alcohol fueled threat
Immigration issues prompted e-mail to Salazar

By Pamela Dickman
The Daily Reporter-Herald

A Berthoud man has admitted sending an e-mail threatening Sen. Ken
Salazar and his family — a hate-filled message he said was prompted by
alcohol and anger over illegal immigrants taking jobs away from him.
Joseph James King pleaded guilty Aug. 25 to a federal charge of
threatening the senator in an e-mail sent May 5, which is Cinco de Mayo.

King could be sent to prison when a U.S. District Court judge sentences
him Nov. 17.

On May 23, Salazar’s chief of staff contacted the FBI after the
senator’s staff read a threatening e-mail, according to court documents.

The e-mail repeatedly calls Salazar a derogatory term referring to
sexual preference and a “rat” who supports illegal immigrants,
according to the plea agreement document filed in U.S. District Court
in Denver.

“You stick a knife in my back, and I will cut your (expletive) THROAT
and that of your family,” the e-mail states, according to the plea
document.

Another line of the e-mail begins with an expletive and continues, “I
would say go back to (derogatory term for Mexico) but please stay some
day I want to beat you half to death and your wife twice as much.”

Investigators traced the e-mail to King’s computer in Berthoud, and
King admitted sending it, according to the plea document. He told an
FBI agent he was drunk and upset over national immigration events when
he sent the e-mail, according to the document.

He reportedly said he works as a roofer and was upset because he thinks
illegal immigrants are taking his work, something he said he sees every
day, the court document states.

Iowa State student pleads guilty to fatal crash

NEVADA, Iowa - An Iowa state student has pleaded guilty to a car crash
that killed a fellow student last December following an on-campus party.
Shanda Munn of Lawler admitted in court Friday that she was driving
impaired in the early morning hours of Dec. 2 after consuming several
drinks at the party. Police said her car struck 20-year-old Kelly
Laughery while she was walking along a street. Laughery was found
around 4:30 a.m. on the side of the street and was pronounced dead at
an Ames hospital.
Munn, a 20-year-old sophomore at the time, was charged in her death two
months later.
During the court hearing Friday, Munn pleaded guilty to vehicular
homicide, a Class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years
in prison, plus fines. She originally was charged with a more serious
form of vehicular homicide, which would have carried a maximum sentence
of 25 years in prison.
As part of a plea agreement, Story County prosecutors dropped a charge
of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, which would have
added another possible two years in prison. In exchange, Munn must
cooperate with prosecutors if charges are brought against the people
who supplied the alcohol that she consumed.
Laughery's parents, Douglas and Pamela Laughery, have filed a
wrongful-death lawsuit against Munn and four other Iowa State students
they say were responsible for their daughter's death. The Laugherys
contend the other students hosted the keg party Munn attended. The four
are identified in the lawsuit as Jody George, Nicholas Tonelli, Tony
Galante and Kelly Campbell.
Members of Laughery family declined to comment on the plea agreement
Friday.
Story County prosecutors would not say whether they will pursue charges
against those who supplied the alcohol.

Son of former police chief to spend 30 months in prison
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Associated Press

September 9, 2006, 2:36 PM CDT

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- The son of a former City of Pewaukee police chief was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a car accident that killed a 21-year-old woman.

Michael Stone, 26, of Hartland was found guilty of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle for a fatal crash in June 2005 that killed Erin Gutknecht.

"I have to give the community a message that we cannot, cannot, and will not, tolerate criminally negligent behavior," Waukesha County Circuit Judge Ralph Ramirez said Friday before sentencing Stone, son of former Police Chief Denny Stone.

After a night of barhopping, Michael Stone was driving early the morning of June 12, 2005, when he swerved off the road and collided with trees.

Gutknecht, who was riding in the rear storage area of the vehicle with Joseph Froehlich of Sussex, suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Son Killed in Head-On Crash With Dad
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By Associated Press

September 5, 2006, 11:04 PM CDT

PEMBINE, Wis. -- A man drove into oncoming traffic and struck his father's car, killing himself and seriously injuring his father in northeastern Wisconsin, the sheriff's department said Tuesday.

Cory Ehlert, 31, was driving east when he crossed the center line early Monday and hit a westbound vehicle driven by his 53-year-old father, Kerry Ehlert. Both were alone in their vehicles.

The son's girlfriend had called the father to the son's home to assist at a family disturbance, Marinette County Sheriff Mike Kessler said in a statement.

The son died on the scene and the father underwent surgery at a Green Bay hospital. He was listed in fair condition Tuesday, hospital spokesman Jim Reck said.

Alcohol and speed contributed to the accident, the sheriff said.

Several Arrested After Ohio State's Win
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By Associated Press

September 10, 2006, 9:55 PM CDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio State University student accused of driving his car into three people, injuring them slightly, was among several people arrested during a raucous celebration of the No. 1-ranked Buckeye's win over No. 2 Texas.

There were about 40 fires reported, with couches and mattresses set ablaze, in student neighborhoods Saturday night, said Columbus police Sgt. David Howson, whose department arrested about 17 people, five of them on arson charges. A trash bin also was set on fire, burning two nearby cars, he said.

Battalion Fire Chief Kevin O'Connor said he was treated for bumps and bruises after he and two others were struck by a car that came through a temporary command post set up in the driveway of a student union building.

The two others, Ohio State assistant vice president for student affairs Barbara Rich and her husband, were treated early Sunday at Ohio State University Medical Center for minor injuries.

The driver of the car, George Karadimas, 22, a student at the school, has been charged with vehicular assault, said Ohio State Assistant Chief Rick Amweg. He declined to comment on whether alcohol was involved.

Karadimas was being held in a Franklin County jail and is scheduled to appear in court Monday morning for an arraignment, said sheriff's deputy Travis Carter.

Most students haven't returned to campus because fall classes don't start until Sept. 20, Howson said. Still, police concentrated their patrols on the campus area last night.

"This happens on big games, so we were prepared for it," Howson said.

The 24-7 victory kept the Buckeyes (2-0) in perfect position for a run to a college football national title. Texas, which saw its 21-game winning streak snapped, is the defending national champion.

School bus driver charged with drunken driving
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Associated Press

September 5, 2006, 11:48 PM CDT

NEW ALBANY, Ind. -- School district officials suspended a bus driver following her weekend arrest on a charge of being drunk while transporting 13 cheerleaders and their coach.

The cheerleading team from New Albany High School was on a bus returning Friday night from a football game against Jennings County in North Vernon when the team's coach became concerned because the driver seemed confused and was driving erratically, said Tony Bennett, assistant to the superintendent for operations for the New Albany-Floyd County schools.

The coach persuaded the driver, Sylvia Cooke, to exit from Interstate 65 and stop at a gas station near Uniontown and state police were called, he said.

Cooke, 60, was arrested on a drunken driving charge after a test found she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than twice the state's legal limit to drive of 0.08 percent, according to state police.

She was released Saturday from the Jackson County Jail on $700 bond. Cooke could not be located for comment as no home telephone number is listed in her name.

Bennett said Tuesday that Cooke, who had driven a daily bus route for New Albany High School for the past 18 months, has been suspended while the school district investigates her arrest.

"(Cooke) placed the safety of our students in jeopardy," Bennett said. "We're very disappointed because the primary role of a bus driver is to transport students safely."

Bennett said the school district knew of no other driving incidents or accidents by Cooke.

McHenry County crashes kill 2
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September 6, 2006

Two people were killed over the Labor Day weekend in McHenry County crashes, one of them a fiery collision involving a pickup truck, police said Tuesday.

Jesus Rivera, 40, of McHenry was killed in a crash before 11:30 a.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of Illinois Highway 120 in rural McHenry Township, authorities said.

Rivera's blood-alcohol level was 0.25, said McHenry County sheriff's Sgt. Karen Groves, three times the legal limit in Illinois.

Rivera was headed west when he struck the rear of a vehicle in front of him and lost control, crossing the median and hitting another vehicle, police said.

A passenger in Rivera's car, Jose Alfredo Barradas-Rosales, was arrested by sheriff's police on unrelated warrants for DUI and failure to appear in court, Groves said.

Also, Corey J. Bain, 20, of West Dundee was killed just before 1 a.m. Monday when he failed to stop his pickup at a stop sign and pulled into the path of a truck at Illinois Highway 23 and Carls Road in unincorporated Riley Township, Groves said.

The pickup burst into flames, and Bain was pronounced dead at the scene, Groves said.

Drunken-driving charge in fatal crash
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September 6, 2006

A Palos Park man was charged with drunken driving and speeding Tuesday in a weekend crash that killed an off-duty Chicago police officer.

Wojciech Sikon, 20, of the 10700 block of Grandview Drive was charged with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence and cited with failure to reduce speed in the Sunday morning crash that killed Officer Timothy Harts, said Chicago Police Officer JoAnn Taylor.

The crash occurred at about 3:40 a.m. in the 6700 block of South Cicero Avenue. Sikon was driving north on Cicero at a high rate of speed when his vehicle slammed into Harts' vehicle, which was making a left turn onto Marquette Road, Taylor said.

Harts' vehicle spun and slammed into a utility pole, ejecting him.

Harts, 29, of the 3900 block of West 104th Street was pronounced dead at about 7:50 a.m. Sunday in Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

Sikon and his male passenger suffered minor injuries and were treated at Advocate Christ, Taylor said.

6-year sentence for DUI death
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Man got break at first, but violated probation

By Art Barnum
Tribune staff reporter

September 7, 2006

The mother of a Naperville teen killed in a 2001 car crash stormed from a DuPage courtroom Wednesday after a judge sentenced Sean McNees, the intoxicated driver, to 6 years in prison.

Jamie Blundell said McNees, now 21, deserved a longer prison term for abusing alcohol and drugs while on probation for the reckless homicide of her daughter, Stacey, 17.

Weeping, Jamie Blundell expressed outrage in a 15-minute statement after the sentencing.

"My kid is dead, and [McNees'] mother is bawling," she said. "They have no respect and understanding. They should be crying for my kid."

Her husband, Ted Blundell, said, "We aren't going to argue with the judge's ruling, but we expected a [longer] sentence. ... We didn't believe there was any sincerity coming from [McNees] at all."

McNees was 16 when he smashed his car into a tree, killing passenger Stacey Blundell. He had been drinking and smoking marijuana, authorities said.

After he was convicted, the Blundells asked Judge George Bakalis to show mercy, saying they thought sending McNees to prison would be wrong.

Bakalis gave McNees probation, six months in the County Jail and ordered him to pay restitution. But since then, McNees has been accused three times of violating the terms of his probation, including his arrest in May 2005 on charges he was driving under the influence of alcohol on a revoked license. Those accusations led to his resentencing.

"It's God's will," McNees said while gazing at his parents in the front row of the Wheaton courtroom.

The McNeeses did not speak to the Blundells while leaving the courtroom and declined to comment about the sentence.

Assistant DuPage State's Atty. Michael Pawl had sought the maximum 14-year sentence while defense attorney Joseph Laraia argued for probation.

Bakalis said he could not take into account McNees' probation violations in resentencing him on the reckless homicide charge. And he said a first-time reckless homicide conviction likely would not yield a sentence of more than 6 years.

"If I gave McNees the maximum 14 years, I would be quickly reversed" on appeal, Bakalis said.

McNees will serve about 85 percent of the 6-year term, or about 5 years and one month. Because he has been held in the County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail since his 2005 arrest, McNees should be released from prison in about three years, Bakalis said.

Jamie Blundell said she was sorry she stormed out of the courtroom. "The impact of knowing he's still alive and my daughter's dead got to me."

Lions assistant arrested twice
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September 7, 2006

A former Illinois assistant coach--now with the Detroit Lions--was arrested twice in the last two weeks, once for allegedly driving drunk and once for driving in the nude, according to the Detroit Free Press. Joe Cullen, whom first-year head coach Rod Marinelli hired from Illinois, coaches the defensive line. Cullen, 38, posted bond in both misdemeanor cases and was still coaching the Lions at practice Wednesday, the paper reported. In the latter incident, a Dearborn police ticket describes the coach as "driving on a public street without any clothes on. (NUDE)." The team released a statement from Cullen apologizing and said Cullen has requested treatment. The nudity incident happened Aug. 24, the night before the Lions flew to Oakland for a game against the Raiders. The Lions said alcohol was involved. Police again arrested Cullen on Sept. 1, the night after the Lions lost their final exhibition game to the Bills at Ford Field. Records show Cullen had a blood alcohol content of .12.

Driver charged with DUI in biker's death
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By Hal Dardick
Tribune staff reporter

September 7, 2006, 6:45 PM CDT

A Joliet man was charged with three counts of aggravated driving under the influence Thursday, a day after he was accused of causing a crash that took the life of a motorcyclist.

Jesse G. King, 22, of the 2200 block of Douglas Street was arrested Wednesday after the 9:24 p.m. crash that led to the death of Joseph Kingsmill, 45, of Joliet. Kingsmill was declared dead in Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet less than an hour after the crash.

King was driving a car south on Larkin Avenue at Jefferson Street when he crossed the median, sideswiped a northbound car and then hit the northbound motorcycle ridden by Kingsmill, said Joliet Deputy Police Chief Patrick Kerr.

Kingsmill, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered massive head injuries, Kerr said. No one else was injured in the crash, he added.

According to the charges filed against him, King's blood-alcohol level topped .08 percent, the legal limit in Illinois, at the time of the accident. He also had unspecified drugs in his system, the charges allege.

A judge ordered King, whom police also charged with possession of less than 10 grams of marijuana, held in lieu of $250,000 bail Thursday afternoon. If convicted, King would face up to 14 years in prison.

Illinois man's night of killing still a mystery
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Slayings, suicide still shake Wyoming city

By Liam Ford
Tribune staff reporter

September 5, 2006

Even as police released more details of a double homicide-suicide in Laramie, Wyo., that involved a young man raised in South Beloit, Ill., experienced investigators said a motive may never be known.

Forensic evidence and witness interviews after the July attack have provided a timeline of how Justin Geiger, 20, of Rockton, stabbed Adam Towler to death, attacked his roommate then fatally shot Amber Carlson before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.

But investigators said they have unearthed no clear motive to explain why Geiger killed Towler, 20, and Carlson, 19.

"We approached this as if we were going to try to prosecute someone--motivation was a critical piece," said Laramie Police Cmdr. Dale Stalder. "From everything we've been able to determine at this point in the investigation, we can't point to anything that triggered the event."

Before last week, police had not released information laying out the order in which the attacks occurred.

Geiger, Carlson and Geiger's 19-year-old roommate who was stabbed in the attack were students at the University of Wyoming who met as freshmen last school year.

Geiger grew up in South Beloit, and Carlson was from Denver. Towler's father is head of the chemical and petroleum engineering department at the university. Towler was home for the summer taking classes as he prepared to transfer to Georgetown University from Emory University in the fall.

Family members have not spoken to the media since just after the incident. The Tribune is not naming Geiger's roommate because he was sexually assaulted.

The rampage took place early in the morning of July 16, after a small drinking party at a one-story frame home close to the university campus in Laramie. Geiger rented the house with several roommates.

About six or seven people had attended the party, and autopsy results indicated the victims and Geiger had all consumed alcohol, police said.

By the time Geiger attacked Towler shortly before 2 a.m., most of the guests had left, leaving only those who became involved in the attacks.

Geiger stabbed Towler multiple times, fatally injuring him, then attacked his roommate, sexually assaulting him and giving him superficial stab wounds, police said.

Police believe the sexual assault was "a crime of power and control and violence" and not one of sex, Stalder said.

The roommate fled the house and shouted for help, alerting people in the quiet residential neighborhood, who called police.

It was at that point that Carlson walked into the room where Geiger had killed Towler; Geiger shot her once in the head, killing her, then put the rifle to his own head, police said.

The multiple homicides shook the small city of Laramie and raised questions among the students' friends and acquaintances about what could have caused Geiger, known as a close friend of Carlson's, to attack the others.

Though university officials said talk of the killings has quieted in recent weeks, some residents said each mention in the media brings a new round of questions.

In the days after the incident, Stalder said that police considered it their responsibility to determine "what started this" to help provide closure for the families. But officials said they are still stymied in their attempts to explain the slayings, and some with experience with homicide investigations said a motive may never be known.

"You look at a bloodstain pattern analyst who will look at where the blood is. And that will tell you where the shooter was from the victim, whether or not there was struggle, things like that," said Gary Rini, a Cleveland-based forensics consultant who has worked for the Denver and Naperville Police Departments.

"When you're talking about motive--that goes into a whole other realm."

Determining an exact motive can be difficult even when the attacker is still alive, said Douglas Godfrey, a former prosecutor and a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law.

"One, it's very hard to look into men's minds, it's very hard to figure out what they're thinking. Second, people often work from mixed motives," Godfrey said.

Richard Kling is a clinical professor of law at Chicago-Kent and a defense lawyer for 35 years. Forensic evidence can nail down what happened and who was responsible, but he added: "Why it happened, it can never tell you."

So for now, it appears police know who was responsible for the killings, but not why.

"That's not to say that next week or next month, or a year or two years from now, something might come to light that will tell us, `This is what that trigger was,'" Stalder said.

Indiana woman killed in crash on Dale Hollow Lake
--------------------

Associated Press

September 11, 2006, 10:30 AM CDT

CELINA, Tenn. -- An Indiana woman died over the weekend when a boat she was riding in crashed on Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee, officials said.

Robin Bentley, 45, of Martinsville, Ind., was found under the boat after it struck an exposed gravel bar and flipped early Saturday, said Glenn Moates, an investigator with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Two others among the eight people on board the 18-foot ski boat were taken to a hospital for examination, then released.

The boat's operator, Mike Kirkman, 40, also of Martinsville, was arrested and charged with boating under the influence and violating the state implied consent law -- meaning he refused a blood-alcohol test, Moates said.

The crash occurred shortly after midnight Saturday and did not involve any other boats.

Dale Hollow Lake is on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, about 75 miles east-northeast of Nashville.

Michigan man arrested in fatal crash at Yellowstone National Park
--------------------

Associated Press

September 8, 2006, 5:47 PM CDT

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- Federal authorities have arrested a Michigan man who was driving a pickup truck involved in a fatal crash in the park earlier this week.

Colby A. Skippergosh, 27, of Mount Pleasant, Mich., was being held in federal custody, awaiting a court appearance next week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Cole.

Authorities said Skippergosh was driving a pickup truck late Wednesday night that went out of control and crashed on the park road between Gardiner, Mont., and Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo., killing the passenger, 27-year-old Meghann R. Williams, also of Mount Pleasant.

Authorities said the vehicle skidded more than 160 feet, struck a guardrail, then vaulted 45 feet down an embankment.

Park Service officials said in a news release that alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash, although the specific charges against Skippergosh would not be disclosed until his initial court appearance.

Skippergosh was injured in the crash and was arrested after his release Thursday night from a hospital in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Man pleads guilty to killing father, stepmother with baseball bat

The Associated Press

June 14. 2005 9:59PM

man pleaded guilty Tuesday to bludgeoning his father and stepmother to death with a baseball bat and fleeing to Florida last year.

Adam Russell Baumann, 22, pleaded guilty to capital murder, first-degree murder and two counts of stealing credit cards. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole at his sentencing Oct. 5.

Russell said he was high on crack cocaine and alcohol on June 4, 2004, when he beat his father, Russell Baumann, 61, and stepmother, Diana, 58, stole his father's credit cards and fled in his father's Lincoln Continental.

Diana Baumann's daughter, Kim Heggie, said her mother had tried to help Baumann with his drug problem. Baumann told police he beat and stabbed his stepmother because she had withheld his driver's license to keep him from buying alcohol.

"My mother didn't deserve to die over two ATM cards and a license," Heggie told WTVR-TV in Richmond.

Baumann was arrested June 11, 2004, after he jumped from the top of his speeding car during a high-speed police chase in Jacksonville, Fla.

FSU's Sexton Taken to Hospital After Calling Himself God

Suspended Seminoles QB Picked Up by Police After Laying in Street, Jumping on Cars

By DAVID ROYSE, AP Sports

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (June 14) - Suspended Florida State quarterback Wyatt Sexton was doused by pepper spray and taken to a hospital by police after he was found laying in the street and identifying himself as God.

Sexton was hospitalized Monday night. A school official said Tuesday he was still under medical care at an undisclosed location. Sexton had not been charged with any crime.

Florida State assistant athletic director Rob Wilson said Sexton was suspended from the team two weeks ago because of a previously undisclosed violation of team rules. He declined to elaborate, and said this incident appeared to be unrelated.

Sexton, 20, is the son of Florida State's assistant head coach and running backs coach, Billy Sexton. Wilson said neither head coach Bobby Bowden nor Sexton's father would comment.

Sexton, who will be a junior in the fall, took over the starting job for the Seminoles at midseason last year. He was expected to compete for the spot this year with Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee, who were redshirted as freshmen last year.

An incident report by Tallahassee police officer Zachary Lyne said he was called to a residential neighborhood about reports of a man doing push-ups in the street and jumping on a car.

Lyne said he found Sexton in the middle of the road wearing only a wet pair of shorts. The officer asked Sexton several times to identify himself, and eventually he said he was God.

Sexton later got on his hands and knees, yelled obscenities at the officer and stared at him. He was doused with pepper spray and handcuffed, and identified himself as Sexton.

Police said Sexton "appeared to be under the influence of alcohol." Hospital officials said they didn't have any information on him.

Once at the hospital, Sexton continued to say he was God and that he didn't know why he was in the hospital, Lyne wrote.

Police said Sexton's roommates told them he had been at a Dave Matthews Band concert in Tennessee with them earlier Monday. They said he had been stressed out over trying to win the starting quarterback job.

Alcohol blamed in attack

Man accused of stabbing girlfriend and her friend

By JOHN BUGBEE The York Dispatch

Jealously fueled by beer and a day of arguing with his girlfriend may have led Randy Longway to stab her and her friend, according to testimony at his preliminary hearing yesterday.

"He thought me and Kenny were having an affair," Sherry Wiley, 33, testified.

After testimony from Wiley and victim Ken Boyer, District Judge Linda Williams ordered Longway's case to trial.

He remains in the York County Prison on $10,000 bail.

Longway is accused of stabbing Boyer and Wiley March 30 in Wiley's 234 Walnut St. home.

He was later injured when he stepped in front of a charter bus on the North George Street bridge near the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory.

He's charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering.

Found beer cans: Wiley testified she and Longway, with whom she had a child, were arguing before Boyer came to the house. Although she said she didn't know he'd been drinking that day, she found a number of empty beer cans afterward.

"We were fighting all day," she said. "About all different things. If he didn't touch no beer, he would have been fine."

In his testimony, Boyer testified he was in Wiley's second-floor bedroom about to change out of his work clothes when Longway attacked him with a knife.

"He grabbed ahold of me and pulled me down," Boyer, 34, testified. "I started screaming."

He was stabbed four times in the arm
and shoulder area, Boyer said.

He was treated at York Hospital.

Testifies to threat: Wiley testified that, as Longway left the bedroom, he inflicted a minor stab wound in her back when she told him she was calling the police.

But downstairs in the kitchen, he grabbed two knives, tried to attack her and was stopped by her brother, Eddie Wiley, 35, according to her testimony.

"He told my brother to get out of the way so 'I can kill her,'" Sherry Wiley said.

Shackled and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, Longway, 43, who did not testify, whispered repeatedly to his attorney, Jim Rader, during Boyer's and Wiley's testimony.

Williams ordered Longway to be arraigned in York County Common Pleas Court July 22.

Two plead guilty in grisly 2003 slaying

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ALICEVILLE, Ala. (AP)_Two Pickens County men have each pleaded guilty to murder for their roles in a a grisly 2003 crime.

Pickens County District Attorney Chris McCool said 50-year-old Phillip Alan Bonner of Coal Fire and 49-year-old David Lee Mayo of Reform entered plea deals last week in the June 2003 murder of 39-year-old Randy Harrell.

Authorities said Harrell was shot and his attackers tried to sever his head with an ax in an apparent effort to dismember the body.

Investigators believe the men were under the influence of alcohol and decided to kill Harrell without a clear motive.

McCool said he expects Bonner and Mayo to each serve life prison sentences. A sentencing hearing will be held at a later date.

Widower, 83, 'beaten with rock'

A murder trial jury has been told an elderly widower was beaten to death with a rock from his own garden by burglars who then set fire to his home.
George Jenkin, 83, had his skull crushed in the attack, Truro Crown Court was told.
John Maddern, 24, of Penpons Close, Penzance, Cornwall, has admitted burglary but denies murder.
Stuart Bird, 26, of Trevean Road, Penzance, has admitted murder and is in custody, awaiting sentence.
'Crushing injury'
Geoffrey Mercer QC, prosecuting, said the pair had broken into the Mount's Bay Inn in Penzance before going on to Mr Jenkin's house in Laregan Hill, Penzance.
They had consumed a "considerable amount" of alcohol and stolen a CD player and an amplifier before breaking into Mr Jenkin's home early on 3 June last year.
The victim's body was discovered by firefighters, while a can of wood preserver was located nearby, splashes from which were found on Mr Maddern's jeans, Mr Mercer said.
A post-mortem examination found the pensioner had died from a "severe crushing head injury" with a heavy object, the court heard.
The prosecutor alleged that Mr Maddern had previously broken into Mr Jenkin's house and stolen an electric saw and a credit card in May 2003.
The case continues.

Woman charged in alcohol-related death

A West Toledo woman was indicted yesterday by a Lucas County grand jury for an alcohol-related accident April 21 that killed a passenger in her car.

Sarah Karamol, 21, of 2829 Kendale Drive was indicted on one count of aggravated vehicular homicide.
Brian Eppink II, 22, of the Kendale address was killed when Ms. Karamol's car collided with a tractor-trailer at Berdan and Kelley avenues. The truck was turning left from Kelley onto eastbound Berdan when Ms. Karamol's westbound car hit the left side of the trailer.
Authorities said Ms. Karamol had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 percent, more than twice the legal limit in Ohio of 0.08 percent.

Police say driver in double-fatal had cocaine

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June 7, 2005, 4:04 PM EDT

HOPKINTON, N.H. (AP) _ The driver who police say caused a double-fatal crash on Saturday had cocaine and alcohol with him and was a habitual offender with a drunken driving conviction, according to court records and the police.

Police say Richard D. Demers, 45, swerved into oncoming traffic on Route 202-9 about 4 p.m. Saturday, causing a head-one collision that killed him and a Connecticut woman who was a passenger in a recreational vehicle.

"We found cocaine on his person and the presence of alcohol on the scene, as well as signs of intoxication," Police Chief David Wheeler said Tuesday. Toxicology tests will be conducted, but often take weeks.

Wilma Hein, 69, of Stamford, Conn., died in the recreational vehicle. Her husband, Roger Hein, 71, was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Lebanon where he was listed in satisfactory condition Tuesday.

Demers was convicted three times of driving after being certified as a habitual offender in 1989. He was deemed a habitual offender after leaving the scene of an accident and being caught twice driving after his license was suspended for insurance cancellations, said his lawyer, Ray Raimo.

Under state law, habitual offenders who are caught driving face 1 to 5 years behind bars, and no portion of the minimum may be suspended.

Demers was caught driving in 1991, 1994 and 2001, according to court documents examined by the Concord Monitor.

Wheeler believes Demers should have faced tougher penalties for being a repeat offender.

"You can't drive if you're in prison," he said. "The statute allows for one to five in state prison and after the third time, he's not getting it. Maybe he should have been given the max."

Demers was last arrested on Dec. 12, 2001, in Goffstown for drunken driving and driving as a habitual offender, Goffstown District Court Clerk Barbara Grant said Tuesday. In April 2002, he was convicted of drunken driving, fined $420 and had his driving privileges revoked for three months, Grant said.

He pleaded guilty in Superior Court to the habitual offender charge was sentenced to one year of weekends at the Hillsborough County jail, which he began serving in June 2002, court documents show. He was put on strict probation and attended the Manchester Academy program, an alternative to incarceration that teaches offenders life skills, according to a Web site for Southern New Hampshire Services Inc.

Demers completed a substance abuse program and was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings four times each week in December 2002, according to a letter from the Manchester Academy to Raimo. Demers was allowed to serve some of the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of his progress, Raimo said.

"He went to an alcohol program and appeared to be committed to his rehabilitation," Raimo said. "He did a remarkably good job of straightening up."

In May 2003, however, Demers' probation officer found him drunk. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, ordered to return to the academy for six months and again participate in a substance abuse program, court documents show.

Police said speed was not a factor in the crash, which started when Demers's minivan crossed into oncoming traffic and sideswiped a Jeep.

Wilma and Roger Hein were driving to Maine to visit their son, Douglas Hein, The Stamford (Conn.) Advocate reported Monday. They left Connecticut on Saturday morning and planned to be away for six weeks while Wilma Hein received medical treatment for arthritis, a neighbor who was watching the Hein's home said.

Demers had been living for more than a year with a girlfriend in Weare, Wheeler said. He worked in furniture restoration, was widowed, and has an adult son, according to his application to the academy program.

The minivan was registered to Demers' girlfriend, Suzanne Turgeon, Hopkinton police said. Turgeon told police she did not know Demers was driving her car.

Round Lake woman dies in crash

Posted Monday, June 06, 2005
A 23-year old woman died in a one-car accident after losing control of her vehicle early Saturday.
Diana Cordova of Round Lake was driving on Route 134 near Hart Road in Round Lake when she lost control of her vehicle and rolled into a ditch, said Lake County Coroner Richard Keller.
The accident occurred about 4 a.m. Saturday. No others were injured in the accident, Keller said.
Alcohol likely played a role in the accident, although official test results won’t be available until later, Keller said.

Man arrested after car collision

Posted Monday, June 06, 2005
A Carpentersville man was arrested Saturday morning after crashing his car into oncoming traffic along Huntley Road, Huntley police officials said.
No one was critically injured in the crash. Ismael Silva, 34, 1612 Marlboro, is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a revoked driver’s license and improper lane use after police said his Chevrolet Cavalier veered across the road into oncoming traffic at around midnight as he was driving west on Huntley Road near Heritage Lane.
Silva’s car struck an Acura sedan driven by Denise Rognstad, 36, of Lake in the Hills, Huntley police Sgt. Todd Fulton said. Both Silva and Rognstad were taken to Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, where they were treated and released, Fulton said.
“Traffic was closed down for a couple of hours while police were investigating,” Fulton said. Silva is being held in the McHenry County jail.

Train runs over woman, woman survives

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BATAVIA, N.Y. A western New York woman has survived being run over by a train.

Police say the woman apparently was suicidal when she lay down between the tracks in Batavia. The train engineer was unable to stop in time, and the woman was found unconscious with minor injuries. Police say they think alcohol was involved.

The woman, who is thought to be in her early 20s, was in intensive care at a local hospital after the Friday accident.

Schoolyard crash driver bailed

06jun05

A MAN who allegedly injured five children when he drove into a brick wall at a Melbourne school has been granted bail at the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Sudanese refugee Taban Gany, 31, of Dandenong, is accused of being drunk and driving while disqualified when he allegedly drove into a brick wall at Dandenong West Primary School where children were playing about 2pm on May 19.
Mr Gany, who faces seven charges including driving while intoxicated, negligently causing serious injury and driving while disqualified, was granted bail by Magistrate John Hardy.
Mr Hardy said the allegations against Mr Gany were "serious in the extreme" and the charges he faced affected the most vulnerable people in the community.
Five children who were near the wall when Mr Gany's car allegedly hit it were taken to hospital after the crash, three with serious injuries.

A six-year-old boy had to have his right foot amputated, and a girl, aged 11, suffered multiple fractures to her right leg.
Mr Hardy said that under conditional bail Mr Gany was not an unacceptable risk.
His bail conditions include that he report to police daily, not drink alcohol or drive a car, and to receive counselling as ordered by the court.
Mr Gany was released on bail to reappear in court next Thursday.

'Everybody has their own version' of fracas

Police: It's too early to say cause of Moon Bar fight

By Eric Weslander, Staff writer
Brooke Wehner, 6News reporter

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Despite published accounts that Kansas University basketball player J.R. Giddens instigated a fight last week outside a Lawrence bar, exactly what happened that night remains far from clear.

Two of those injured in the melee gave the Journal-World and 6News wildly differing accounts Friday about how the brawl began outside the Moon Bar, 821 Iowa. And police, who continue to piece together accounts from more than 20 witnesses, said it was too soon to draw conclusions or seek charges.

Capt. Dan Affalter, who supervises Lawrence Police Department detectives, said alcohol could confuse matters whenever something happened at closing time at a bar.

"Everybody has their own version of it," Affalter said. "Some people may be biased. Some people may be outright untruthful. ... The story the media gets may not even be the same story the witness gave to us."

Affalter declined to discuss any of the versions police were hearing.

"I don't want to spread rumors," he said. "I'm not in the rumor business."

The Kansas City Star reported Friday that witnesses described Giddens as the instigator of an attack on 24-year-old Jeremiah Creswell, who is 5-foot-9, 150 pounds.

The paper also quoted Creswell saying he was jumped by a group of men including Giddens and wielded a knife to defend himself.

KU's history with trouble

Some encounters with the law by Kansas University athletes' recently:
2005 -- Sophomore running back John Randle charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly hitting a man outside It's Brothers Bar & Grill, 1105 Mass. He was kicked off the team.
2004 -- Randle was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful use of a driver's license.
Kick returner Greg Heaggans arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
2003 -- Randle was arrested on suspicion of domestic battery. Two weeks later, he was accused of stealing beer from a convenience store.
2002 -- Reserve quarterback Jonas Weatherbie arrested on charges of drunken driving and driving with a suspended license.
Defensive lineman Brock Teddleton arrested on misdemeanor battery charges after a fight at Jack Flanigan's Bar and Grill, 806 W. 24th.
2001 -- Football players Mario Kinsey and Reggie Duncan charged with stealing a KU student's purse and using her credit card to buy a pizza.
2000 -- Defensive end Dion Rayford pleaded guilty to criminal damage to property after attempting to crawl through the drive-in window at the Taco Bell at 1408 W. 23rd. Reports indicated Rayford was upset that a chalupa had been left out of his order.
Two football players accused of sexually assaulting a female soccer player outside The Yacht Club, 530 Wis.
Citing a lack of evidence, then-Douglas Co. Dist. Atty. Christine Kenney decided against filing formal charges.
1999 -- Basketball player Lester Earl charged with speeding and driving on a suspended license. Later he's arrested for missing a court appearance.


KU athletic department officials said they would do nothing until police finished their investigation.

"We've heard 20,000 to 25,000 different versions," of what happened, said athletic director Lew Perkins. "We have confidence in the police department. We agreed to stay out of it. It's their business, not ours. Until we get the report, we have no reaction at all. We agreed to let the police do the job. It should not be done through the newspapers. Once we get the information, we will react. This is a very serious matter, and we will address it."

KU men's basketball coach Bill Self said he had taken no action against Giddens.

"I have not dismissed J.R. from the team, and he was not arrested (Friday), just like I told you (Thursday) night," Self said. "I hope people are patient enough to hear what the police findings are.

"We need to know what happened to create such a melee. Certainly our guys, our athletes, should face the same consequences as any individual if found guilty of a criminal act. Nobody will get special treatment, but I'm not the jury."

Reached by the Journal-World on Friday night, Giddens said he had no comment.

Among those cited in the Star article were Lawrence residents Marcus Knight, 29, and his cousin, Preston Patterson, 27, who said they were injured by Creswell's knife after they jumped in to try to break up the fight.

Knight said he was angry at Giddens and that it was Giddens' fight, the Star reported. But when interviewed Friday by 6News, Knight said Giddens was not an instigator and he never saw Giddens throw a punch.

"His role in it is not the role everybody's saying," said Knight, who said he didn't know Giddens personally.

Knight and Patterson are consistent on at least one thing, however: Giddens directly was involved in the confrontation in the moments before the fight. Patterson said Giddens was shouting obscenities; Knight said Giddens was "running his mouth and carrying on."

Knight's version is that he and Patterson jumped into the fight only after 10 or 12 people attacked Creswell outside the bar. He said it was an unknown person in the crowd -- not Giddens -- who threw the first punch.

Patterson's version is that he saw Giddens and Creswell squaring off about 15 feet from each other. When Giddens and Creswell started a one-on-one fight, Patterson said, that's when he and Knight jumped in to try to break them up.

Patterson said he had no knowledge of other people being involved in the fight.

"When I saw it, it was just four people: me, my relative, Giddens and Creswell," he said.

Apparently, both Patterson and Knight were injured by a folding knife wielded by Creswell. Knight said Creswell had his head down and was swinging the knife, not knowing where he was cutting, when he slashed both Patterson and Knight in their midsections.

"I feel it was self-defense," Knight said. "Any normal person would probably pull something out if more than five people came after them."

Patterson, 27, interviewed at his home Friday, spent nearly a week at Lawrence Memorial Hospital before being released Wednesday.



He said he got involved in the altercation because he's a "KU addict" and didn't want to see Giddens get into any trouble.

"I knew where it could lead," Patterson said. "When you get a scholarship of that caliber, you've got rules and regulations you have to follow."

Giddens suffered a severed artery in his calf.

Affalter said he didn't know how long it would take for detectives to finish their report. It would depend in part on how long it took them to reach witnesses, some of whom have left town.

"It's going to be a while, and we're nowhere near calling it a complete investigation or saying, ‘This is the guy that did everything,'" Affalter said.

Chester Giles, father of Kansas University basketball player C.J. Giles, said it's true his son was at the scene of the fight, but he said the younger Giles' role was minimal.

"He's not really involved. If it is, he's after the fact," the elder Giles said. "It's just him going to the aid of his teammate, but after the fact, not initially. ... He gave a statement on the whole thing afterward with police."

Palatine man arrested after hit-and-run collision

By Jon Davis
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Sunday, May 29, 2005

A Palatine man is free on bond after being charged in connection with a hit-and-run collision at Algonquin and Palatine roads.
Cook County Circuit Judge Sandra Tristano Saturday released Carl Domingo, 40, on his own recognizance, though she set $5,000 as the amount he’d forfeit if he fails to appear at the Rolling Meadows Court house on June 6.
Domingo, of 322 Forest Knoll Drive, is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, leaving the scene of an accident and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Authorities said he was driving Friday night when he struck another vehicle and kept going. He was stopped by Hoffman Estates police, who noticed his eyes were glassy and his speech slurred, officials said. Officers who searched him after he failed sobriety tests also found a short straw and small amount of cocaine, officials added

Driver charged in wreck that killed friend, relatives
Man had been drinking heavily, officials say

By Angela Rozas
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 27, 2005

While sifting through the remaining wreckage Thursday on the side of Indian Knoll Road near West Chicago where two of his relatives and a family friend were killed in a violent car crash early Wednesday, Vinod Williams shook his head in disbelief.

Not only has he lost his nephew Marell Charan, 27, and niece Esther Rao, 22, both of Wheaton, and their longtime friend Dr. Nirav Mehta, 28, of Chicago, but prosecutors charged a third relative, crash survivor Shelley Dogra, with reckless homicide Thursday in their deaths.

While family members planned funerals and laid flowers by the roadside, prosecutors visited Dogra, 25, of Wheaton, at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield to charge him with three counts of reckless homicide. Prosecutors said he drove drunk and crashed a 2002 Nissan Maxima into a bank of trees, killing his three passengers.

Dogra had been drinking for much of the day, said DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett, first at a family barbecue and later at a public establishment. Dogra was heading home to Wheaton about 2:30 a.m. with the others when he took a curve too quickly and crashed into the trees, splitting the car in two, Birkett said.

Dogra survived and was found disoriented next to the vehicle by a jogger about three hours later.

Charan, Rao and Mehta were all pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsies Thursday showed they died of multiple traumatic injuries, a DuPage coroner's spokeswoman said.

Although they were not discovered for hours, the passengers' injuries were so severe that even quick action might not have saved them, Birkett said.

Dogra was driving too fast and his blood-alcohol level was "substantially over the legal limit," Birkett said. He would not offer details, saying they would come out in court.

Dogra remained under guard at the hospital in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, Birkett said. He is expected to be released within the next day or so, said Lt. Mark Edwalds, detective division commander for the sheriff's office.

When Dogra is released, he will be taken to the County Jail and appear for a bail hearing, Birkett said. He likely will be charged with aggravated driving under the influence and could face up to 28 years in prison if convicted, he said.

According to Birkett, Dogra's family told him that the young man was "very emotional" over the crash. An electrical engineer working on his master's degree, Dogra had a reputation as a "good young man," Birkett said.

"But he made a tragic and horrible decision," Birkett said.

At the crash site Thursday afternoon, Charan's aunt, Catherine, pointed to pieces of the Nissan in the grass, bark ripped from nearby trees, pieces of plastic in her hand.

"Look at everything," she said. "Can you imagine this? The car turning up right here. It's just so sad."

Family members placed purple carnations, Rao's favorite flower, at the site. Nirmala Benjamin, Rao's aunt, howled in anguish at the sight of the wreckage. Rao's mother, Daisy, stood quietly, her arms wrapped around her abdomen as she stared at wooden crosses friends erected for the victims.

Williams stood nearby, gathering pieces of wreckage and filming the site so that the many family members coming for the funerals would be able to see it.

4 teachers' resignations in drinking case accepted

(AH TO RUIN UR LIFE AND CAREER)

By Mary Ann Fergus
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 27, 2005

An Arlington Heights school board, accepted the resignations Thursday night of four teachers accused of drinking during an overnight field trip last month.

An internal investigation found that the four teachers, and a fifth one whose resignation was accepted last week, violated District 25 policies that require field trips to be drug- and alcohol-free for students, staff and chaperons, said board President Dan Petro.

Speaking at Windsor Elementary School to an angry standing-room-only crowd of more than 200 people, Petro said he recently learned the drinking was a longstanding tradition, but that no current administrator had known about it.

The board also disciplined an unspecified number of teachers connected to the incident with strong written warnings.

The teachers had helped chaperon the 7th grade's annual trip to the Lorado Taft Outdoor Education Center in Oregon, Ill., about 90 miles west of Chicago.

In late April, South Middle School pupils traveled to Northern Illinois University's outdoor center and spent two days learning teamwork skills while studying natural ecosystems.

During these trips, teachers union officials said, teachers would take turns being "on duty" at night to supervise the sleeping children. Some went "off duty" to socialize at a bar in Oregon, a tradition for at least 15 years, they said.

But Petro said the teachers returned to the campus after midnight, then some went to a nearby park and continued to drink until 2:30 a.m. Between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m., "a teacher fell asleep in an area occupied by students," Petro said.

One teacher resigned almost immediately, parents said. Four others submitted their resignations Wednesday, parents said.

District officials would not confirm what the five taught. According to parents, the five were two physical education teachers, two special-education teachers and a social studies teacher.

District Supt. Alan Simon choked up as he talked about the need for staff members to be reliable and to refrain from shifting blame to others. He apologized to pupils, parents and the community.

Man charged in fatal 2002 car accident

Published May 22, 2005

McHenry County sheriff's police announced the arrest last week of a Rockford man in a 2002 car accident that killed a teenager and left a man seriously injured.

Ryan S. Erickson, 22, of the 3400 block of Wesleyan Avenue in Rockford was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence in the May 2002 accident.

Erickson had been traveling north on Ritz Road near Marengo, police said, when his car veered off the road.

Christopher N. Wolf, 19, of Harvard was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Kirt Saunders, 28, of Belvidere was seriously injured and is still recovering, police said.

Erickson had denied driving, sheriff's police spokesman Glenn Olson said.

But Saunders, whose injuries had prevented him from recalling details about the accident, recently told investigators that Erickson was the driver, Olson said.

Erickson faces up to three years in prison if convicted. (That's so stupid, you kill someone without drinking you get life or the death penalty, you kill someone when drinking you get 3 years, how stupid this world is!)

Car slams into couple, leaves husband dead

By Tonya Maxwell
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 22, 2005

A man was killed and his wife injured early Saturday when the couple were struck by a man who was allegedly driving drunk, police said.

Jaime Legarda, 54, and his 53-year-old wife were waiting for a bus outside a currency exchange near Pulaski Road and Fullerton Avenue when the driver ran a red light, Chicago police spokeswoman Patrice Harper said.

The driver, heading west on Fullerton, then lost control of the car, which hit the couple before slamming into the currency exchange, Harper said.

The couple were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Legarda was pronounced dead at 3:55 a.m. Saturday.

His wife, whose name has not been released, remained in critical condition Saturday morning, Harper said.

The driver, Gerardo Reyes of the 5000 block of North Kostner Avenue, was cited with failing to produce a driver's license, having no insurance, driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident, speeding and disobeying a red light, police said.

Man to serve five days in jail for deadly crash (What a joke!)
By The Associated Press

CEDAR RAPIDS --- A man who was found guilty of drunken driving in a crash that killed four people will serve five days in jail and pay a $1,000 fine.

Corey Evans, 23, of Marion, was convicted of drunken driving last month for the Dec. 30 crash that killed Jose Antonio Uribe-Ugalde, 20, his girlfriend Gabrielle Botello-Lara, 21, their 6-week-old son Antonio DeJesus Uribe, and Uribe-Ugalde's 10-year-old brother, Jose Luis Uribe. All were from Fredericksburg.

Evans was entering Interstate 380 about 11 p.m. when his car collided with Uribe-Ugalde's car.

Witnesses told police Uribe-Ugalde's car crossed a median and began driving the wrong way into the oncoming lanes when it was struck by Evans' car.

Evans has said he didn't see the car until it was too late.

After the accident, Evans blood-alcohol level was 0.122 percent, police said. The legal limit is 0.08 percent.

Associate District Court Judge Nancy Baumgartner sentenced Evans to 65 days in jail, but suspended all but five days. She also fined Evans $1,000, ordered him to serve two years probation and to do at least 10 presentations about his experience as a drunken driver.

During Friday's hearing in Linn County District Court, Evans said he thinks about the crash every day.

Jose Luis Uribe Sr. said the most difficult thing he has ever done was bury his two sons, his grandson and the baby's mother.

"This good fortune for you, there is no good fortune for the four dead and the grieving survivors," Uribe told Evans during the hearing.

Judge sentences mother to six months

By Shane Benjamin
Herald Staff Writer

A Bayfield mother who bought alcohol for her underage daughter has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Tamara Roukema, 37, was facing 30 days to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to attempting to contribute to the delinquency of a minor, but because of prior felonies, she has to spend a minimum of six months behind bars.

She was sentenced Friday by District Judge David Dickinson.

Roukema bought vodka and Smirnoff Ice for her daughter on Aug. 3, who in turn shared the alcohol with other girls between the ages of 14 and 18. The girls then drove from Bayfield to Durango, where they were pulled over for driving without license plates, authorities said.

Three empty bottles of Smirnoff Ice were in the car and one full bottle, according to the Durango Police Department.

She was arrested Aug. 11 by the Bayfield Marshal's Office. She must report to the La Plata County Jail on Monday to begin serving her sentence.

Driver's bail at $175,000 in hit-run that killed girl

By Tom Rybarczyk
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 13, 2005

A driver who allegedly struck and killed a 6-year-old girl after using alcohol and drugs was ordered held Thursday on $175,000 bail.

Travis Johnson, 25, was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI for allegedly striking and killing Breeanna Lord with his Mercury Topaz about 6 p.m. Tuesday near Ashland and Pryor Avenues, officials said. Her sister Leeanna Lord, 5, also was struck and suffered a broken leg, Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Michelle Patsy said.

Johnson, of the 8000 block of South Langley Avenue, was stopped by police and taken into custody a couple hours after he allegedly struck the girls, officials said.

Johnson told police that he had been smoking pot and had taken an ecstasy pill while with his girlfriend Tuesday, according to Patsy and court records. He also said he drank malt liquor, Patsy said.

Patsy said that before the accident, witnesses saw Johnson avoid hitting another man within blocks of the scene before driving off at a high rate of speed.

Johnson told police he did not know immediately that he had struck the two girls with his car. Johnson's girlfriend was in the car at the time of the incident.

"I went to avoid what I thought was a car, and then I hit something," he told authorities, according to court records. "When I looked in the rear-view mirror, I saw it was a kid."

Immediately after, witnesses heard Johnson yell out, "damn," Patsy said. Johnson continued driving, even though one of the witnesses caught up to him and informed him that he had struck a girl, Patsy said.

Family members said the two girls were crossing the street, heading to a home with a cardboard sign that said "Lee's Icee Cups," when they were struck.

Johnson has prior convictions, including possession of a stolen motor vehicle, Patsy said. He also did not have a driver's license at the time of the accident.

Freeway Shootings Rattle Southern California Motorists

State Highway Patrol Forms Team to Investigate Cases

SANTA CLARITA, Calif (May 3) - Following the eighth Southern California freeway shooting in two months, the state Highway Patrol announced it has created an investigative team to more quickly track down leads in the cases.

The new unit will work with local law enforcement agencies as troopers also increase their patrols on the region's freeways, officials said. Four people have been killed in 11 freeway shootings this year.

Even as they announced the stepped-up enforcement efforts, officials released figures showing that despite media coverage in recent weeks, there have actually been two fewer freeway shootings this year than in the same period last year.

''We don't want the public to think there's an onslaught'' of shootings, Assistant Chief Art Acevedo said Monday. ''We are actually on pace to have fewer shootings this year, and remember, these shootings are taking place in three counties that are heavily traveled with high populations.''

According to data released by authorities, there were 36 freeway shootings, with one person killed, in 2004. In 2003, there were 46 incidents and four fatalities.

The latest shooting came during the afternoon commute Monday on Highway 14 in the Newhall Pass area, when a bullet pierced a windshield of a sport utility vehicle. The male driver, the only one in the vehicle, was not injured.

The CHP also released details of a shooting early Saturday in which a 16-year-old driver and his 17-year-old passenger were targeted on Interstate 5 in the Sun Valley area when a sedan pulled alongside the teens' Toyota. The driver, hit three times, drove himself to a hospital and was expected to survive. The passenger was not injured. Authorities said the shooting may have been motivated by road rage.

In a separate incident, a 19-year-old man shot three times early Sunday while driving on Interstate 405 was taken to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. He was in stable condition and was expected to survive.

In the past five weeks, two men were killed in separate incidents on the Harbor Freeway in Los Angeles. Two others also recently were killed in freeway shootings in neighboring counties.

Wisconsin's Stanley Suspended From Team

By Associated Press
Published May 2, 2005, 11:07 AM CDT

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin tailback Booker Stanley was suspended from the team Monday following his arrest at a weekend street party.

He was charged with battery, disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing an officer during the party Saturday near the campus, city police said. He was released on $950 bail, and a court appearance has not yet been scheduled.

The party drew about 20,000 people at its peak, and police said there were more than 200 arrests, most for underage drinking or possession of open containers of alcohol.

Stanley ran for 350 yards and two touchdowns and caught 18 passes for 146 yards and another score last season.

Man accused of raping girl, providing her with alcohol

   A 19-year-old Kerhonkson man was arrested Saturday for providing an underage female with alcohol and raping her last year, Ulster County sheriff's deputies said.
   Alexander Schmidt was arrested after police were called to Benedictine Hospital, where an intoxicated 15-year-old girl had been admitted. Police said Schmidt provided the girl with alcohol and the stimulant ephedrine while at his home in Kerhonkson.
   After interviewing the girl at the hospital, police said that they also discovered Schmidt had sexual intercourse with the her in July 2004.
   Schmidt was charged with second-degree rape, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, police said.

Man Critically Injured in RFK Fall

By Associated Press
Published April 20, 2005, 10:24 PM CDT

WASHINGTON -- A man was critically injured when he fell from the top level of RFK Stadium after the Atlanta Braves-Washington Nationals game Wednesday night.

The 35-year-old man, whose identity was not immediately revealed, fell from a ramp on the 500 level of the stadium, hit several ramps and railings on the way down and landed on the concourse of the 100 level, said Alan Etter, District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services spokesman.

A witness said the man was looking over a railing before he fell.

"He was just standing there," Maxine Lewis told WJLA TV. "All of a sudden, he just lost his balance, fell over. I saw him hit his head on a railing, then he hit his head on a second railing and just fell flat."

The man was flown to a hospital in a U.S. Park Police helicopter, suffering from multi-system trauma.

Police believe alochol was a factor.

Robber left victim brain damaged

Adam Lawrie
Lawrie had taken cocaine and alcohol before attacking Miss Lord
A teenage street robber who stamped and jumped on his victim's head leaving her brain damaged has been given a seven year prison sentence.
Adam Lawrie, 17, kicked, stamped and jumped on Sharon Lord's head as she lay screaming on the floor, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Lawrie had nine previous convictions and was under a curfew order when he attacked Miss Lord.
After the attack Lawrie stole her mobile phone, the court heard.
Miss Lord, 34, who now has to use a wheelchair and is unable to speak, is still in hospital after the attack which took place in the early hours of 10 December last year.
Chance Meeting
Lawrie, 16 at the time, had taken cocaine and drunk alcohol before attacking Miss Lord who he came across by chance in the street in Moston, Manchester.
He at first denied the attack but he was caught after CCTV cameras that failed to film the assault made a "shocking and sickening" audio recording.
Lawrie, of Sight Hill Walk, Harpurhey in Manchester, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and robbery.
He made no reaction at Manchester Crown Court as Mr Justice Cooke ordered him to be detained in a young offenders' institute for seven years on each count to run concurrently.

Sharon Lord now has to use a wheelchair and cannot speak

Outside court, Sharon's mother Helen Elliott, said: "It's very upsetting for me to see Sharon the way she is now.
"She's making progress slowly and she can say hello to me, but I find it hard to understand what she's trying to say.
"Sharon can't walk by herself and has to be helped by two people. In many ways she's just like a child and that really upsets me. Before this happened to Sharon, she was lively and a real chatterbox. She never stopped talking."
Det Insp Michael Fraser, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "Sharon suffered terrible injuries as a result of an appallingly vicious attack.
"She and her family will always have to live with the consequences of this terrible incident. Her quality of life has been severely affected and she may never make a full recovery from her injuries."

Monaco prince hospitalized

Associated Press
Posted Saturday, April 09, 2005
MONACO — The prince of Hanover, the sometimes rowdy husband of Monaco’s Princess Caroline, is hospitalized in serious condition with an acute pancreas problem, the royal palace said Friday.
Prince Ernst August of Hanover, 51, was taken to intensive care at Monaco’s Princess Grace Hospital on Tuesday, his office said in a statement.
The statement did not make clear whether the prince remained in intensive care Friday but said he was “under continuous surveillance.” Palace officials said he remains hospitalized.
“His state of health is serious and requires permanent medical care,” the statement said.
Tests, X-rays and scans have been carried out to determine the extent of his “acute pancreatic disorder,” it added.
Ernst August, Caroline’s third husband, is descended from one of Germany’s oldest noble families. He is a distant relative of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and great-grandson of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II.
But he also is renowned as a royal black sheep whose sometimes rowdy, even drunken, behavior has repeatedly landed him in court and in the newspapers.
In 2000, he apologized to the Turkish public for urinating on the side of Turkey’s pavilion at the Expo 2000 World’s Fair in Germany. Last year, he was convicted and fined for assaulting a hotel owner in Kenya in a drunken rage in June 2000.
German media have dubbed him the “Pugilist Prince.”
Doctors did not reveal the nature of the prince’s pancreas problem. The two most common are pancreatic cancer and acute pancreatitis, where the pancreas suddenly becomes inflamed.
Pancreatic cancer does not usually come on suddenly, said pancreas expert Dr. Stephen Bloom of Imperial College in London.
Most cases of acute pancreatitis are caused by alcohol or gall stones. Like cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis is a common affliction a drinker.
However, in rare cases acute pancreatitis can be caused by injury, prescription drugs, parasites or a virus.
The pancreas is part of the body’s hormone production system. It secretes digestive chemicals and insulin, the hormone that carries energy to the tissues.
Bartlett teen charged with driving truck over lawns
By Fernando Diaz
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Thursday, April 07, 2005
A Bartlett teenager and five others were arrested early Wednesday morning after police received reports of a truck driving over lawns in the area of Chesapeake Court and Struckman Boulevard.
Kurt A. Aiken, 19, of the 1000 block of Elmwood Lane, told officers he had driven his gold-colored Dodge pickup over two other lawns in other parts of the village, according to a police statement. Police were called at about 3:30 a.m., reports said.
Aiken was charged with driving off the roadway, criminal damage to property and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.
Christina Martinez, 21, of the 200 block of Lido Trail in Bartlett, and Robert Ackerley, 21, of the 1200 block of Hale Avenue in Bartlett, were arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Three other passengers charged with illegal consumption of alcohol by minors are: Christopher Hernandez, 20, of the 700 block of Bluff Street in Carol Stream; Andrew M. Blachowicz, 20, of the 1800 block of Orleans Court in Rolling Meadows; and Autumn T. Cuttone, 18, of the 500 block of Brighton Drive in Wheaton.
All of the individuals are scheduled to appear at the Cook County Courthouse in Rolling Meadows on May 10. Aiken is also scheduled to appear in DuPage County Court in Wheaton.

Driver denies guilt in brother's death

Published April 8, 2005
COOK COUNTY -- A Chicago woman charged in a crash in which her brother was killed pleaded not guilty Thursday to reckless homicide and aggravated drunken driving.

Prosecutors said Gabriel Ochoa, 25, of the 2500 block of South St. Louis Avenue, was drunk, speeding and driving without insurance or a license Feb. 22 when she entered the northbound Edens Expressway from Touhy Avenue and cut in front of a semitrailer that pushed her car into the path of two other trucks.

Ochoa's brother, Juan Barrera, 23, of Chicago, died of crash-related injuries. Ochoa, and her 19-year-old boyfriend were injured.

Cook County Circuit Judge Garritt Howard scheduled a Thursday hearing for Ochoa in the Skokie courthouse. She is free on $50,000 bail.

Investigators said Ochoa admitted drinking beer and rum, and police said she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.225 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Fatal Crash At River Road Exit

RELATED PICTURES

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Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Neil Relyea
Photographed by: 9News
4/9/2005 6:31:45 PM

Cincinnati police say alcohol and high-speed played a role in a fatal crash early Saturday morning.
Police say a car carrying four people was exiting onto the ramp to River Road from West Sixth Street when the driver lost control.
The car struck two retaining walls, killing Charles Hundley, the 18-year-old driver.
Police say the other passengers were not injured.

Upgraded charges in fiery crash (These two kids never to have a change at life cuz of alcohol)

Tribune staff reports
Published August 2, 2005, 9:34 AM CDT

A 47-year-old Schaumburg man faces upgraded charges of reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence in a fiery crash that killed two children near O'Hare International Airport, CLTV reported.

The additional charges were approved overnight for Ralph Pollock, of the 1600 block of West Syracuse Lane, authorities said. Pollock previously had been charged with DUI and running a red light in the Sunday evening crash in Franklin Park.

The accident happened at 5:30 p.m. Sunday as the children and their family were returning from a vacation. They were leaving a parking lot near O'Hare in a mini-van driven by the father, Gregory Hockerman of West Lafayette, Ind.

As Hockerman turned left on a green light at Waveland Avenue and Mannheim Road, Pollock drove his pickup through a red light and slammed into the side of Hockerman's vehicle, police said. Pollock was driving south on Mannheim Road.

The Cook County medical examiner's office has identified the two children as Claire Hockerman, 14, and Nathan Hockerman, 5. They were pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, authorities said.

The children's parents, Gregory and Sherry Hockerman, and their 12-year-old son Paul were taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. The parents were admitted to the hospital's burn unit. It was not immediately known if the son also was admitted to Loyola.

Tejano singer charged with DWI

By Associated Press
Published August 1, 2005

SAN ANTONIO -- Tejano singer-songwriter Pete Astudillo has been arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated after police say he crashed his SUV into a row of traffic barriers. Astudillo was released Sunday afternoon after posting $1,000 bond.

As he left the San Antonio magistrate's office, Astudillo signed autographs and posed for pictures in the parking lot.

Police say Astudillo was driving his Chevrolet Suburban west on North East Loop 410 Saturday night when the SUV crashed into the traffic barriers near the McCullough exit.

Witnesses told police they saw the SUV strike nine sand-filled barrels, then continue traveling along the shoulder until it struck a concrete barrier, a police report said.

Astudillo suffered minor scratches.

The report said Astudillo submitted to an alcohol breath test, which showed that his blood-alcohol content was 0.24 -- three times the legal limit.

Three injured in two accidents

By BRETT DUNLAP

BARLOW - Three Ohio men were injured in two accidents Sunday in Washington County, officials said.
Jason A. Shuck, 19, was injured in an ATV accident near Barlow and was taken to Cabell-Huntington Hospital. He was listed in serious condition, a nursing supervisor said Monday.
The accident occurred between 1:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. in Fairfield Township near Earl Place Road, the Washington County Sheriff's Office reported.
Shuck and two friends were riding four-wheelers, the sheriff's office said. Shuck was trailing the other two, the sheriff's department reported. At one point, the two friends could no longer hear Shuck's bike. They turned around and found Shuck had crashed, the ATV was on top of him and he was unconscious.
Shuck was flown by medical helicopter to Cabell-Huntington with serious injuries.
No citations have been issued and the incident remains under investigation, but officials said alcohol was a contributing factor to the accident.
In the second accident at about 7:30 p.m. along Township 49 near Waterford, a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo driven by Celestino T. Hernandez, 22, of Beverly was traveling north and failed to negotiate a curve, went off the left side of the road, went over an embankment, struck a fence and overturned, said a dispatcher with the Washington-Noble detachment of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. Police say alcohol also was a factor in this crash.
The vehicle came to rest on its top in a creek.
Hernandez and a passenger, Cesar Landaverde, 23, of Whitehall, Ohio, were ejected from the vehicle, the dispatcher said. Both individuals were transported to Marietta Memorial Hospital by the Beverly-Waterford rescue squad.

Man charged in deadly shooting

By BRAD BAUER

MARIETTA - Felony indictments were returned Monday against a Marietta man accused of providing children with alcohol and firearms that resulted in one of the teens being fatally shot July 3 at a Maple Street residence.

Assistant Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings said 21-year-old Jesse "Chubs" Barton may not have pulled the trigger, but that he is just as responsible for the death of 15-year-old Marietta resident Michael Cale.

Barton, of 407 Maple St., is charged with first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter, third-degree felony involuntary manslaughter, third-degree reckless homicide, two counts of fifth-degree felony improperly furnishing firearms to a minor and three counts of contributing to the delinquency or unruliness of a child by providing alcohol.
Barton faces 11 years and $22,500 in fines, if convicted. He will be arraigned at 9 a.m. Aug. 9 before Washington County Common Pleas Judge Susan Boyer.
Cale was accidentally shot and killed by Barton's 15-year-old nephew, Cameron Barton, who recently pleaded innocent to charges of reckless homicide in Washington County Juvenile Court for his role in the shooting. A pretrial is set for 10 a.m. Sept. 7. The boy faces detention until the age of 21, if convicted.
"The way I see it, they are both responsible," Rings said.
Jesse Barton could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Marietta police Sgt. Detective Rick Meek said his investigation revealed Jesse Barton provided alcohol to his nephew, Cale and a third teen on the night of the shooting.
"He was asked to buy a 12-pack of beer and he did that and delivered it (to the children at a Gilman Avenue residence)," Meek said.
After the 12-pack was consumed, Meek said, Cameron Barton led his friends to his uncle's Maple Street residence where more beer was consumed. The boys then made their way to Jesse Barton's bedroom, where he was playing video games.
While in Jesse Barton's bedroom, the children began examining two of the adults' handguns. Shortly after 1 a.m., Cameron Barton cocked one of the guns, thinking it was unloaded, and pulled the trigger. As a result, Cale, who was sitting nearby, was shot in the back of the head.
Cale was resuscitated and transported by Marietta Fire Department rescue personnel to Marietta Memorial Hospital where he later died.
"Jesse may have been unaware the children drank more beer (at the Maple Street residence), but he certainly knew they had been drinking earlier," Meek said.
According to court documents, Cale's blood alcohol level at the time of his death was .112 percent. The impairment limit in Ohio is .08 percent for adults and .02 percent for juveniles.
Cameron Barton's alcohol content shortly after the shooting was determined to be .004 percent. (this just shows there that any amount of alcohol in your system causes you to do stupid things) The third child, a 16-year-old Gilman Avenue resident, fled the home after the shooting and was not tested. Police said that child had nothing to do with the shooting.

Boater charged; ejected passenger swims ashore

By PAT ARNEY Staff Writer, (609) 272-7204, E-Mail

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - State Police said a Buena Vista Township man was charged with operating a boat under the influence of alcohol Monday after it ran aground in Great Egg Harbor Bay, ejecting a passenger.

Robert L. Stant, 47, of the Collings Lakes section of Buena Vista, notified the U.S. Coast Guard and the State Police Marine Station in Atlantic City of the incident by radio at about 2:30 a.m., said State Police Sgt. William Addis, the investigator.

Stant told police that passenger Richard Brierly, 43, of Egg Harbor Township, went overboard when the 23-foot boat they were in ran aground.

Personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard's Great Egg Station, a helicopter from its air station in Egg Harbor Township and state troopers from the State Police Marine Station in Atlantic City launched a search for the boat and the overboard passenger, Addis said.

The boat was hard to find due to fog but eventually was located, Addis said. About a half-hour later Brierly swam ashore in Patcong Creek, off Ocean Heights Avenue.

Brierly told police that he must have been unconscious for a while after being ejected because when he woke up, the boat had departed and he was floating in water with his life jacket on.

He told police he realized the only way he would survive was to swim to shore, so he started swimming toward the lights.

Addis estimated Brierly swam about three-quarters of a mile to the point where he went ashore.

Once there, Brierly approached a trash truck for help, which called Somers Point police. Police took him to Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, where he was treated and released, Addis said.

Stant was arrested on the DWI charge and taken to the State Police Marine Station in Atlantic City for processing, Addis said.

NCAA and Beer Don't Mix

The Monitor's View

The National Collegiate Athletic Association must decide whether it's going to promote the positive value of sports to young Americans or become just another sports entertainment conglomerate.

.

The case at hand: Will the NCAA set an example, walk away from beer advertising on NCAA sports telecasts, and risk alienating advertisers?

The NCAA's board of directors is expected to consider the issue of beer ads at its meeting this week. Ads for other alcoholic beverages already are prohibited from NCAA broadcasts.

The argument for a beer ban seems overwhelming. Colleges are already battling drunkenness on campuses. Every year, drinking by college students results in about 1,400 deaths, 500,000 injuries, 600,000 assaults, and 70,000 sexual assaults or date rapes, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Riots by drunken students after sports events are almost routine.

College students and impressionable children shouldn't be conditioned to associate beer drinking with college football or basketball. Yet the NCAA's "March Madness" basketball tournament this spring carried so many beer ads that one commentator suggested it should be renamed "Malt Madness" and the sport renamed "Brewball."

Beer companies argue that a large majority of NCAA viewers are adults and that ads target them, not kids. But prominent former coaches like North Carolina's Dean Smith and U Rep. Tom Osborne (R) of Nebraska, who coached at Nebraska, recognize that large numbers of young people also are watching and are speaking out against beer ads. More than 200 NCAA schools have done so too.

When will the NCAA realize the damaging impact on its public image of putting beer in front of kids?

Search for Driver

MONROE TWP, NJ-July 31, 2005 — A man was run over and left to die on the street outside a bar in southern New Jersey. Police are now asking for your help to track down the driver who left the scene.

Police in Monroe Township are looking for the car and driver that were involved in a hit-and-run accident outside a bar early Sunday morning.
Police say it happened around 2:15am Sunday outside of Sharkey's Bar, in the 800 block of Black Horse Pike.
Twenty-three-year-old Kenneth Gibson of Turnersville walked onto the road and was hit by a driver who continued to head north after the impact.
Gibson was died at the scene. Witnesses at the bar say Gibson had been drinking.
The car police are looking for is described as a large white 4-door. It likely has damage to its front passenger side. Investigators gathered debris from the car that was left at the scene. They're sending it in for analysis and hope to get more information about the car.
Police are asking for help from anyone who might have seen the accident. You're asked ot call Monroe Township police at (856) 728-0800 ext. 553.

Driver faces reckless homicide charges after crash

[published on Sat, Jul 30, 2005]
By OWEN R. BRUGH
obrugh@nwherald.com

MILWAUKEE – Prosecutors Friday charged a 44-year-old Carpentersville woman
involved in a three-vehicle crash with reckless homicide.

Crystal Lake Acting Police Chief Dave Linder said investigators believe
that Beata Zarzecki was drunk when her 1990 Oldsmobile minivan rear-ended
a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu on Tuesday.

The crash killed Charlotte S. Rymark, 63, of Algonquin, and injured her
husband Robert E. Rymark, 61.

"It was a tragic crash, and we continue to investigate," Linder said.

The crash occurred about 1 p.m. Tuesday when Zarzecki's minivan slammed
into the back of Rymark's Malibu on Route 31 north of Three Oaks Road.

The Malibu was pushed into a Chevrolet pickup truck, but the driver of
that truck was not injured.

After the crash, Zarzecki was taken to Northern Illinois Medical Center in
McHenry, then flown to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.

She was released from the hospital Friday afternoon and taken to Milwaukee
County Jail, where she awaits an extradition hearing.

If convicted, Zarzecki could be sentenced to 14 years in prison.

1 Jailed In Boat Accident
By BEN MONTGOMERY and ANTHONY McCARTNEY The Tampa Tribune
Published: Jul 29, 2005

TAMPA - A midnight boat ride on the Hillsborough River landed one man in
the hospital and another in jail, police said.
Two friends set out Wednesday night on a 20-foot, Pro- Line boat on a
stretch of the river between Hillsborough Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard, Sgt. Alan Draffin said.

He said the pair had been drinking before Christopher Miles, 31, of Tampa,
fell into the river. While Miles was in the water, James N. Dreby Jr.
accidentally backed over his friend, Draffin said.

The propeller struck Miles, severely cutting his upper torso.

Dreby pulled Miles back into the boat and made it to a nearby dock, where
he called for help, Draffin said.

Miles was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he remained in critical
condition Thursday night.

Dreby, 30, of 12411 Noreast Lake Drive, was arrested early Thursday on
suspicion of driving the boat while drunk. He was booked into Orient Road
Jail, where a test showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.135 percent
about three hours after the accident. Florida law presumes a boater is
under the influence if his blood or breath alcohol level is above 0.08
percent.

He was released after posting $2,000 bail.

Alcoholic jailed for fatal crash after day's drinking (Once again, what a joke, kill some1 get three years)

From:ireland.com
Saturday, 30th July, 2005

An alcoholic who admitted killing a pensioner in a road accident just 24 hours after he had been convicted of drink driving has been jailed for three years.

John Hogan (43), Bushy Park, Ennis, Co Clare, appeared yesterday at Limerick Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of John Cahill (68) at Clarecastle, Co Clare, on November 5th, 2004. The victim was from Gort, Co Galway.

Hogan also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of an intoxicant and failing to provide a blood or urine sample on the same date.

Limerick Circuit Court heard yesterday that Hogan's van crossed a continuous double white line on the main Ennis to Limerick Road at Clarecastle and ploughed into Mr Cahill's car at about 10.30pm. The victim, who was travelling alone, died from multiple head injuries.

A car travelling behind him had to take evasive action to avoid the crash.

Supt John Kerin of Ennis Garda station gave evidence that Hogan had engaged in a 12-hour drinking binge which started earlier that morning after he picked up a friend at Shannon airport.

After having a drink at the airport, they went to a hotel in Ennis and drank beer and glasses of brandy until 3.30pm. Security camera footage from the hotel showed Hogan twice falling as he waited for a taxi in the lobby.

Hogan conceded that he was drunk and had been drinking all day, the court heard.

The binge continued throughout the afternoon and evening, and included the purchase of 12 cans of beer which were consumed in a flat.

Later Hogan and his friend returned to the hotel. Along the way they bought 20 bottles of beer and a small bottle of vodka, which they drank in his friend's hotel bedroom.

Shortly after 10pm, Hogan climbed into his van. Evidence was heard that when he drove into the Statoil service station opposite the hotel he knocked over part of a wall and drove over one of the petrol pump islands.

Supt Kerin said Hogan was spotted weaving in and out of the slow lane on the main Ennis-Limerick road moments before the fatal accident.

Further evidence was heard that the accused, a self-employed carpenter, had been disqualified from driving for two years for a drink-driving offence at Limerick District Court the day before the accident. However, that disqualification was not due to come into effect until February 1st, 2005.

Judge Carroll Moran said the case was one of the worst cases of death by dangerous driving that he had ever heard. Offering his condolences to the family of the victim, he said he had to take into account Hogan's guilty plea and the fact that he had shown some remorse in court.

He jailed him for three years and disqualified him from driving for 30 years. Leave to appeal was refused.

Attempts to reach Dreby on Thursday were unsuccessful.

USM, fraternity face lawsuit in '04 death

Frat-sponsored drinking games led to '02 grad's death, suit says

The Associated Press

HATTIESBURG — The University of Southern Mississippi and Sigma Nu Fraternity have been sued by the mother of a man the suit claims died during a drinking game at the fraternity house in 2004.

The lawsuit, which gives only one side of the legal argument, said Sammy Broadhead, 25, a 2002 graduate of USM, died on campus on June 25, 2004, while attending an alumni reunion at the Sigma Nu house.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages. It says Broadhead died of "acute alcohol consumption" by participating in a drinking game.
Batesville attorney Richard T. Phillips filed the lawsuit in Forrest County Circuit Court recently on behalf of Broadhead's mother, Dana Covert of Meridian, and other family members. Covert would not comment on the suit.

"The family's primary objective is to prevent another person's death on a college campus because of alcohol," Phillips said Thursday.
USM attorney Lee Gore said the university does not comment on pending litigation.

According to the lawsuit, the fraternity-sponsored event occurred on campus. The lawsuit said it included "beer pong" and other drinking games, even though alcohol is banned on campus.

The lawsuit also named Mike Foster, identified as a graduate advisor and alumni coordinator of the local Sigma Nu fraternity chapter, as a defendant. The suit said Foster organized the alumni event, called the "Sigma NEW Reunion."
Reached at his Mandeville, La., home Thursday, Foster referred comments to the fraternity's national chapter in Virginia, where officials could not be reached for comment.
Early morning accident claims life

by Jean Hudson, KUAM News
Saturday, July 30, 2005

Guam recorded the fifteenth traffic-related fatality Saturday morning. Around 3am, Guam Police Highway Patrol officers responded to a vehicle crash along Route 4 in Ordot-Chalan Pago. GPD spokesman Sergeant Joe Carbullido says the driver of a white Toyota pickup traveling east, lost control of the steering wheel and encroached onto the oncoming lane, ran off the roadway, fishtailed and struck a concrete utility pole near the Shell gas station.

The 35-year old driver of the vehicle did not survive the crash, and was pronounced dead at 4:02am. The 41-year-old front seat passenger was transported to the Guam Memorial Hospital in Tamuning. Carbullido says he was conscious and bleeding at the scene, and at news time was in critical condition in the GMH Intensive Care Unit. Carbullido says investigators are looking into speed and alcohol as factors in the crash.

The driver and passenger are brothers, and police are not releasing either's name pending proper notification of next of kin. The crash happened just hours after Highway Patrol officers began conducting random sobriety check points and roving enforcement.

Two-Boat Collision
MANDAN, N.D. (AP) _ Authorities are investigating a two-boat collision in the Missouri River that injured seven people. Game warden Bob Timian says the extent of the injuries varied. And he says alcohol was involved. Timian says a 45-foot pontoon house boat collided with an 18-foot boat about 11:30 Saturday night, in Morton County. Timian says game wardens were on the scene within minutes. Timian says the case has been referred to Morton County prosecutors.

Alcohol role suspected in fatal weekend crash

Published July 27, 2005

FOX LAKE -- Fox Lake police are investigating whether alcohol contributed to an automobile accident last weekend that killed an Elk Grove Village man and injured two other people.

Taner Anderson, 24, died Sunday in Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge shortly after the car he was riding in hit a tree on Grass Lake Road about 2:30 a.m., said Fox Lake Police Cmdr. Michael Behan.

The driver, Matthew Wcislo, 23, of Elk Grove Village, was in critical condition Tuesday in St. Anthony's Hospital in Rockford, Behan said.

A backseat passenger, Courtney Salamon, 22, of Elgin, was released Monday from Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry.

"They left the roadway and struck a tree on the driver's side door," said Behan, who said the car was going west on Grass Lake Road, 50 feet east of Lake Shore Drive. "It's still under investigation, but we suspect alcohol involvement."

Amish teen charged with stealing numbers

By Associated Press
Published July 26, 2005

HUNTSBURG, Ohio -- Callers complaining about loud music coming from a buggy led deputies to charge a 19-year-old Amish man with stealing house numbers and flower pots. David Byler was charged with theft and underage consumption of alcohol, both misdemeanors.

Callers to the Geauga County sheriff's office told dispatchers early Sunday about a buggy playing loud music and stealing items from outside houses in a rural area of northeast Ohio.

"When our officer caught up with him in the middle of the road, there were flower pots and house numbers in the buggy," sheriff's spokesman John Hiscox said.

SIR RICHARD DOLL, 92 (IM SURE IF HE HAD DISCOVERED THAT DRINKING AND SMOKING LEAD TO CANCER THEN HE DIDN'T DO THEM AND LOOK, HE LIVED TO BE 92)
British scientist tied smoking, lung cancer

Associated Press
Published July 25, 2005

LONDON -- Sir Richard Doll, the British scientist who first established a link between smoking and lung cancer, died Sunday. He was 92.

The epidemiologist, whose research was credited with preventing millions of premature deaths, died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford after a short illness, according to Oxford University, where Mr. Doll worked at the Imperial Cancer Research Center.

His seminal 1950 study, which he wrote with Austin Bradford Hill, showed that smoking was "a cause, and a major cause" of lung cancer.

During groundbreaking research, he and his colleagues interviewed about 700 lung cancer patients to establish a common thread.

"It was not long before it became clear that cigarette smoking may be to blame," Mr. Doll said of the research. "I gave up smoking two-thirds of the way through that study." The findings were published in 1950 and confirmed in a paper in 1954.

Mr. Doll remained active up to his death, releasing a follow-up study in 2004 that showed at least half, and perhaps up to two-thirds, of people who begin smoking in their youth are eventually killed by the habit.

"Richard Doll's work has prevented millions of premature deaths in the 20th Century and will prevent tens of millions of premature deaths in the present century. He was unique in medical history," said Professor Sir Richard Peto, his close colleague for more than 30 years.

Professor Alex Markham, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said Mr. Doll was "an outstanding and unique individual who thrived on the challenge of research."

"There is already one extraordinary memorial to this truly exceptional individual--the millions of lives that he saved through revealing the truth about the deadly nature of smoking," he said. "By doing this he provided the bedrock of all tobacco-related public health policy around the world."

Deborah Arnott, director of anti-smoking campaign group ASH, said Mr. Doll was the "godfather" of the health movement against tobacco and its effects.

"His work has done more to save people's lives than anything else in medicine, certainly more than any drug," she said.

In 1954, about 80 percent of British adults smoked. Half a century later that figure was down to 26 percent, largely due to the fear of cancer and other smoking-related diseases.

Mr. Doll was regarded as one of the most eminent scientists of his generation. He published hundreds of papers on topics as varied as oral contraception, peptic ulcers and electrical power lines and demonstrated that aspirin could protect against heart disease. He also uncovered evidence to suggest that drinking alcohol increased the risk of cancer.

The scientist received honorary degrees from 13 universities, won countless awards, including the UN Award for Cancer Research in 1962 and the gold medal of the European Cancer Society in 2000.

He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1956, was knighted in 1971 and in 1996 made a Companion of Honor--a select group limited to 65 people at any one time--for services of national importance.

Alcohol, road rage suspected in 8-car crash

Jul 28, 2005
Martin Derbyshire, Staff Writer - More from this author
A combination of road rage and alcohol may have led to a horrific weekend crash in King that left 11 people hurt.
"It is a tragedy, but really a preventable one," York Regional Police traffic bureau Sgt. Dave Mitchell said, adding evidence and witness statements seem to point to the eight-car pile-up Saturday being a case of road rage fueled by booze.
"This is totally senseless, totally preventable destruction," he said. "Everybody knows you do not drink and drive and if you get into an altercation with another driver you back off, because if you decide to take matters into your own hands, things can escalate and this is the end result -- people in hospital fighting for their lives."
Saturday's incident began around 5:20 p.m. when a dark blue Ford F150 pick-up truck and a dark blue Oldsmobile minivan were headed south on Yonge Street from Bradford.
Witnesses told police the drivers were gesturing and trying to cut each other off at high speed.
It looked like they were trying to force one another off the road when both drivers lost control near the Bathurst Street intersection, skidding across the oncoming traffic lanes into a group of cars.
In all, eight vehicles were in the wreck, leaving 11 people hurt, two in critical and two in serious condition in hospital.
A 33-year-old Keswick man has been charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and operating a vehicle with more than 80 mgs of alcohol in his blood.
Police are waiting for the other driver to be released from hospital and investigating if the two knew each other.

Rollover Accident Kills Ejected Passenger

REGIONAL NEWS

Click2Houston.com

HOUSTON - Alcohol might be to blame for a fatal accident on the southbound Gulf Freeway feeder road Thursday morning, police told Local 2.

Witnesses told police the driver of a red Ford Mustang, who they said was driving at a high rate of speed, lost control while exiting the freeway at Scarsdale Boulevard at about 4:30 a.m.

The car flipped several times onto the feeder road, landing on one of the vehicle's front-seat passengers, who had been partially ejected from the vehicle.

Emergency workers pronounced the passenger dead at the scene.

The driver and another passenger were transported to Southeast Memorial Hospital. Their conditions have not been released.

Police said they believe alcohol played a role in the accident.

Woman arrested after giving birth drunk

By Associated Press
Published July 14, 2005

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. -- A woman has been arrested on child neglect charges after giving birth while drunk, police said. Melissa Irene Tanner, 37, is accused of having a blood alcohol content close to three times the legal limit when she gave birth to a baby girl on June 30.

She is being held in jail with bail set at $30,000 and the baby has been placed in foster care.

The baby was not breathing upon birth and had to be administered a medication to counteract any narcotics that may have been present in the child's system. After an emergency procedure by hospital staff, the child started breathing.

Tanner reportedly has six other children. According to a July 11 probable cause affidavit filed in the case, Tanner told police she and another person had consumed a case of beer.

Son faces two battery charges
By Tona Kunz
Posted Thursday, July 14, 2005
A St. Charles man accused of striking his elderly parents faces aggravated battery charges.
Dale Krueger has been held in the Kane County jail since June 27 on $100,000 bond.
A hearing to reduce his bond was scrapped Wednesday in favor of looking into placing the man in a residential alcohol treatment facility. The decision on whether to release him to a treatment facility as a condition of his bonding out of jail or as part of a plea deal will be made Aug. 3.
He could face two to five years in prison if convicted of either of the two aggravated battery charges.
The county has made it a goal to vehemently prosecute crimes against those older than 60. Because of the age of victims, prosecutors can push for stricter sentences, but they often weigh the wishes of the family first.
Those close to the family say they just want to ensure that Krueger gets help for his long-time struggle with alcoholism.
According to court documents, on June 26, Krueger struck his mother in the body and then choked and struck his father. He also dragged his father out of the man’s St. Charles home, reports say.
Officials say it wasn't the first time that a temper flared by Krueger’s alcoholism ignited into violence against the couple.
Shortly after his arrest, a Kane County judge ordered that he get a psychological evaluation and some type of alcohol treatment, but in-patient treatment was not mandated.
Murder Charges Filed From LI Wedding Crash

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Jul 14, 2005 3:33 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) A Long Island man, accused of killing two people while driving the wrong way on a highway with more than three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system, was arraigned Thursday on upgraded charges of second-degree murder and DWI, prosecutors said.

Martin Heidgen, 24, of Valley Stream, had initially been charged with second-degree manslaughter following the July 2 crash on the Meadowbrook Parkway that claimed the lives of 7-year-old Kate Flynn of Long Beach and limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, of Farmingdale, said Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon.

The little girl was a passenger in the limousine and was traveling home from a family wedding when Heidgen's pickup truck crashed into their vehicle at around 2 a.m. He was allegedly driving north in the southbound lanes of the parkway and passed several exits and vehicles before crashing head-on into the limousine, prosecutors said.

Heidgen allegedly had a blood alcohol level of 0.28 percent -- three and a half times the legal limit -- at the time of the crash. Heidgen, who suffered a fractured ankle, moved to Valley Stream from Little Rock, Ark., in 2004 after landing a job at a Wall Street financial company.

He could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of the upgraded charges. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Thursday at First District Court and was ordered held without bail. His attorney did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

"This is in an ongoing investigation," Dillon said. "But we feel that the aggravating factors in this case, such as the driving on the wrong side of the Meadowbrook and the high blood alcohol level, support the upgraded charges of murder in the second degree."

Kate and her sister Grace were flower girls at their aunt's wedding at a country club in Bayville. Four other family members, including Grace, were injured in the crash.

"Drunk driving did this to us," Flynn's mother Jennifer said two days after the crash. "I don't want people to think this was a car accident. It was so much more ... Kate was stolen from us. ... But the life that she led -- and I want people to know this too -- was fabulous ... But she was taken, and it was taken with drunk driving."

A time for no questions

- - - - - - - - - - - -
by Julia Sallo (letters@boulderweekly.com)
Hug your kid, because in the blink of an eye you can lose them," said Bob Reiss.
His daughter Tori, 19, a 2004 Fairview High School graduate, died on June 13 in a drunk driving accident. While Tori was back in Boulder from her freshman year at the University of Northern Colorado, she got in a car with Thomas Gedenberg, an incoming Fairview senior, whose blood-alcohol levels were allegedly three times the legal limit. When he was driving 40 miles per hour over the speed limit, he crashed into a tree, and Reiss was killed. He tried to run from the police, but was arrested on suspicion of disobeying a police officer, driving under the influence—and vehicular homicide.
According to Reiss' father, Tori had called home around 12:30 a.m. to say that she would be spending the night at a friend's house. If she decided to get in a car with a drunk driver, she was probably drinking at the parties she attended, as well. As this case has been handed to the police, they are establishing charges for Gedenberg, as well as searching houses where parties may have taken place to get information about who gave the alcohol to minors.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 16,654 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2004. That's an average of one almost every half an hour. These alcohol-related deaths were 39 percent of the total accidents that year and were by far the most severe in general.
The statistics on teenage accidents are horrific. Teens make up 7 percent of licensed drivers, but they cause approximately 14 percent of driving fatalities and 20 percent of reported accidents, according to the website drivehomesafe.com. And 36 percent of teen accidents involved drunk drivers. Traffic crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens, and more than one-third of teen driving fatalities are alcohol-related, according to NHTSA.
Alcohol drastically impairs your judgment, as I learned when we were forced to try and walk in a straight line while wearing simulation goggles in the 8th grade (the trick is to look at your feet, not the ground). If it is impossible to walk straight for a few feet, driving under the influence is obviously incredibly dangerous. Starting June 30, providing alcohol to a minor can earn you six to 18 months of jail time, as well as a fine of up to $5,000. The fine was previously $1,000, and the jail time was no more than a year.
Minor alcohol use is still almost completely unavoidable, and the responsibility for teens needs to be taken away from lawmakers and put on their parents. For high school students, alcohol is the drug of choice. Not only is it the most easily accessible, but most teenagers have acquired a taste for a variety of alcoholic beverages by high school by way of sips from their parents or other close friends. Very few teens will say that drinking a few bottles of Robitussin cough syrup is as pleasurable as downing a margarita or daiquiri.
According to the organization Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MADD, underage alcohol use is more likely to kill young people than all illegal drugs combined. Emergency room visits due to alcohol outnumber those caused by any other drug. But still, in our society, the emphasis is put on illicit drugs.

Man charged with killing neighbors' dogs
Aurora residents wake up to grim discovery

By Courtney Flynn
Tribune staff reporter
Published July 5, 2005

An Aurora man has been charged with killing three of his neighbors' dogs, blasting them in the head with a shotgun and draping one of the animal's bodies over a fence, police said Monday.

"He went to the yards and went on a shooting spree," said Sgt. Kevin Triplett. "I don't know why."

Justin Wackerlin, 22, of the 400 block of Bangs Street, was arrested Sunday at his home and charged with felony criminal damage to property, misdemeanor reckless discharge of a firearm, obstructing a police officer and not having a valid state firearm owner's identification card, Aurora police said.

James Jeffries of the 400 block of South Union Street said two of his dogs were killed, a Rottweiler named Roxie, and a husky called Wolf.

It wasn't right "for those two beautiful dogs to get blasted like that," said Jeffries, 55. "We loved our dogs, they were just like part of this family."

About 12:30 a.m. Sunday, Jeffries said he heard someone at Wackerlin's address shooting off fireworks and later heard an argument between a man and a woman at the same location.

When Jeffries heard more loud noises about 5 a.m., he said he figured it was more fireworks or possibly a fight.

When Jeffries' wife, Tanjer, went outside to give the dogs some water about 8:30 a.m., she discovered Wolf's body hanging over a wooden fence in their back yard, he said.

"At first I thought he was just looking over the fence," she said. "Then I turned around and saw Roxie [in her doghouse] and there was blood all over."

Jeffries' neighbor Francisco Heredia also lives in the 400 block of South Union. Heredia said he heard loud noises while sleeping, but found nothing wrong when he got up to check his car and house.

When Jeffries' son, knocked on Heredia's door Sunday morning to let him know what happened to Roxie and Wolf, Heredia said he found his pit bull terrier Sharky shot dead inside his doghouse.

"I never thought they'd shoot my dog," said Heredia, 19.

After Jeffries' wife called police, neighbors pointed them to a garage where they believed Wackerlin lived, authorities said in a news release.

Wackerlin was found sleeping on the floor with his girlfriend, according to the release.

When police told Wackerlin to stand up, he threatened to shoot them and resisted their attempt to take him into custody, prompting officers to use pepper spray on him, authorities said.

Police found spent shell casings near the garage and discovered the shotgun apparently used to kill the dogs, the news release said.

More shell casings were found in Wackerlin's girlfriend's bedroom on the second floor of a house on the property, police said.

Wackerlin allegedly shot the dogs while he was with a 74-year-old male acquaintance, police said. Neither that man nor Wackerlin's 24-year-old girlfriend was charged with any crime, police said.

Alcohol apparently was a factor in the shootings, police said.

A woman who answered the door at the home on the property declined comment Monday.

A barking dog was chained in the back yard of the home. Birds were housed in a coop and a rabbit was inside a cage.

Wackerlin appeared in the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles over the weekend, where his bail was set at $5,000.

Death toll from toxic Kenya brew up to 36 (Once again a top news story, they got what they deserved!)
Sun 26 Jun 2005 4:52 AM ET

(adds details)

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI, June 26 (Reuters) - Fifteen more Kenyans have succumbed to agonising deaths after drinking poison-laced alcohol, taking the total to 36, authorities said on Sunday.

Victims were still coming into hospital writhing in pain, babbling and suffering sight problems after taking the locally-brewed drink on Friday, said Wako Dulacha, medical officer for the Machakos district just south of Nairobi.

The spirit -- known as "Power Alcohol" -- was believed to have been mixed with an excessive amount of methanol to increase its potency for local drinkers in several villages.

"It was a lady, I am told. I think she over-dosed it by mistake," Dulacha told Reuters. "It is terrible, very traumatic. People have been coming in confused, dehydrated, with headaches. Some have experienced loss of vision."

Illicit drinking dens selling strong, homemade brews known as chang'aa are common across the east Africa nation of 32 million people. There are sporadic outbreaks of poisoning, with more than 100 dying from one toxic batch in Nairobi in 2000.

The latest death toll rose to 36 from 21 overnight, and 59 patients still remained in a bad condition, Dulacha said.

"More will die," he added.

Nine were critical, in comas, and had been sent to hospital in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, some 30 miles (50 km) north.

Eight people were thought to have lost their sight.

"Those who lack the wherewithal are condemned to illicit concoctions brewed and distilled in the most unhygienic conditions," the Sunday Nation newspaper said in an angry editorial on the deaths in Machakos.

Government officials promised an investigation and said those responsible would be charged with murder or manslaughter.

"We are already hunting. We have some of them," a Machakos police spokesman said, declining to give more details.

The tragedy came days before Kenya's parliament was due to debate lifting a colonial-era ban on traditional local drinks.

Stun Gun Used on Intoxicated 13-Year-Old

By Associated Press
Published June 24, 2005, 11:56 AM CDT

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. -- A deputy used a stun gun to control an intoxicated 13-year-old girl who kicked and scratched two nurses at a hospital, officials said.

April Rene Burleson, who is 4-foot-9 and weighs 90 pounds, had a blood alcohol level of 0.175 percent and was under the influence of marijuana and the prescription drug Xanax, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

"You have to understand, she was lashing out, kicking and scratching," sheriff's spokeswoman Ileana LiMarzi said. "She was acting like an adult who needed to be restrained. Just because she's 13 doesn't mean she can't harm somebody."

Burleson was picked up on a loitering charge while walking on the street before dawn Thursday. She was first brought to her mother, who agreed to have the girl medically cleared at Lee Memorial Hospital before being processed.

According to sheriff's reports, Burleson was combative with Deputy Chad Edwards before they reached the hospital, then screamed at the hospital staff and injured the nurses and Edwards.

Burleson was shocked with a Taser stun gun in the chest, then held in restraints during her exam, deputies said.

The teen was charged with loitering, disorderly public intoxication, battery and resisting an officer.

The safety of stun guns, used by more than 6,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide, have been the subject of national debate. Amnesty International found 13 Taser-related deaths in the United States and Canada in the first three months of 2005, compared with six during the same period last year.

Arizona-based Taser International says studies show the weapons are safe.

Dolphins safety arrested on DUI
Associated Press
Posted Friday, June 24, 2005

DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins safety Quintin Williams was arrested on DUI and drag racing charges Thursday after he was stopped while driving 111 mph on an interstate with teammate and passenger Travares Tillman.
Williams was near the team’s practice facility in Davie, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Ferrell said. Troopers also pulled over a car that had been racing Williams. Troopers then approached Williams’ car and suspected he might have been drinking, Ferrell said.
After a roadside DUI test, Williams was taken to a Broward Sheriff’s Office facility where his blood-alcohol level was .087 percent, above Florida’s legal limit of .08 percent, Ferrell said.
Williams was charged with DUI, racing on a highway and unlawful speeding, Ferrell said. He did not know if Williams remained jailed.
The driver of the other car, Brandy Lynn Richards, was charged with unlawful speeding and racing on a highway because she was going 109 mph on the interstate, Ferrell said. Tillman, who was riding with Williams, was not charged and allowed to ride home with Richards, who was cited but not arrested, Ferrell added.
Ferrell said Richards identified herself as a Dolphins cheerleader to a supervisor on the scene of the traffic stop, but team spokesman Harvey Greene said a person by that name was not a Dolphins cheerleader.
“This is not the kind of behavior we expect from our players relative to the choices and decisions they make,” Dolphins coach Nick Saban said. “They not only need to respect the law, but also to respect others in terms of their safety and how it reflects on the members of this team, the organization and our fans.”
Agents for Williams and Tillman did not return calls.
Tillman was signed as a free agent from the Carolina Panthers in the offseason and was expected to compete for a starting safety position. He had knee surgery this month, but the team hoped to have him back for the start of training camp July 24.
Williams was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest before last season and played in five games with the Dolphins.

Speed, alcohol possible factors in crash

Three dead, two injured in Fitchburg crash

Vincennes University student from Bargersville dies after fraternity party

11:24 PM, Feb. 17, 2012 | 1 Comments

Speed, alcohol were factors in crash that killed 3 Marines

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Alcohol suspected in crash that killed elderly woman

10:31 PM, Jan 11, 2012 | 0 comments

NM police point to alcohol in fatal head-on crash

Posted: Jan 02, 2012 4:08 PM CST Updated: Jan 02, 2012 4:08 PM CST

Alcohol appears to be factor in Grays Harbor fatal

Updated 10:27 a.m., Sunday, January 1, 2012 \OAKVILLE, Wash. (AP) — The Grays Harbor County undersheriff says alcohol appears to be a factor in a crash that killed three on a logging road near Oakville on New Year's Eve.

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Wider ban on alcohol sales not likely in NFL

BY MARK PURDY

San Jose Mercury News

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