In October, Irons lost control of his bike in western Pennsylvania and struck a guard rail, reports The Associated Press. Both he and his four-year-old nephew suffered serious injuries as a result of the accident. Irons had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 percent, well over twice the legal limit of 0.08. Irons now faces aggravated assault while driving drunk charges and child endangerment charges for the Pennsylvania DUI.
]]> Someone can be charged with aggravated assault while driving drunk if that person causes serious bodily injury to another as a result of the DUI. If convicted of the crime, that person faces a felony in the second degree charge and up to ten years in jail.For the child endangerment charge, Irons could face a first degree misdemeanor charge and up to five years in jail for not only having a toddler ride on the gas tank of a motorcycle, but also driving very drunk with the kid balanced on the bike.
Jeremy Irons will stand trial for a western Pennsylvania DUI that resulted in serious injuries to both himself and his four-year-old nephew. Because the accident involved a minor, Irons will not only face DUI charges, but he will also face child endangerment charges.
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One year ago, Bruno attended a Reading Royals hockey game. He admitted to drinking before, during, and after the hockey game, reports the Reading Eagle.
]]> Going to the game, Bruno and his friends rode a bus operated by All-Star Distributing that dropped them off at a half-dozen bars and taverns on the way to the game. During the game at the Sovereign Center, operated by SMG, Bruno was served an additional 15 to 20 beers when he already appeared drunk, reports the Eagle. Following the game, the group of friends rode the same bus home, stopping at several more bars.When Bruno finally got back into his own car, the 27-year-old crashed into another car carrying Chad Horne, Robin Villegas, and Terri Ann Buskirk. The three passengers in that car were all killed.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, the estates of the three people killed have sued SMG, All-Star Distributing, and the bars where the group of friends had stopped, claiming that they were liable for serving alcohol to someone who was obviously intoxicated. Under Pennsylvania dram shop laws, businesses cannot serve alcohol to a customer if the customer is obviously intoxicated. This is to ensure that bar patrons will not be too drunk to get home safely.
In the case of the fatal Bethlehem DUI accident, the family members of those killed say that several businesses failed to follow this law when they served alcohol to Anthony Bruno, resulting in the tragic deaths of three people.
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You may be surprised to know that Pennsylvania does not provide a special penalty for people who drive drunk with minors in their vehicles. In many states, the law provides that someone who drives drunk with a child faces enhanced penalties. In Pennsylvania, someone who drives drunk with a child faces the same DUI penalties as any other driver with the penalty largely dependent upon the driver's blood alcohol level at time of arrest.
]]> However, this does not mean that Pennsylvania takes it easy on bad parents. Instead, someone who drives drunk with a child in the car can still face additional penalties if they are charged with the additional crimes of reckless endangerment or child endangerment. Reckless endangerment of a child may be considered a class 3 felony carrying a possible seven-year prison sentence.While Pennsylvania doesn't have any special drunk driving statutes related to endangering children, drivers who are caught driving drunk with a minor can face significant jail time under general criminal child endangerment laws.
As Michael Bills deals with his criminal trouble and staying out of jail, he may also have to deal with a child protective services investigation. This most recent drunk driving incident follows a police call to his home when Bills was found drunk and unresponsive with his children. Police were called to his home out of concern for the children's safety.
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On the night of his 27th birthday, the Philadelphia Eagles tight end was involved in a car accident when the car he was a passenger in crashed into a concrete barrier at the Packer Avenue off-ramp near Lincoln Financial Field, reports the Philadelphia Daily News.
]]> The driver was allegedly driving too fast and spun out of control. He was not identified but has been arrested for driving under the influence after failing a field sobriety test. Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident, reports the Daily News.Celek was one of five passengers in the car, and the group may have been celebrating the star tight end’s birthday. Celek already issued a statement through the team admitting that he exercised extremely poor judgment in getting in the car, though he said he had no knowledge that the driver was drunk.
As you probably know, being a drunk passenger in a car stopped for a DUI is not illegal. However, it is still dangerous as a drunk driver can seriously injure you and any other passenger, as well as other motorists on the road. Before getting in a car after a night out, you should make sure that the driver is sober or have a designated driver ready.
Brent Celek was fortunate not to get injured in the drunk driving accident. Brent Celek DUI was not reported, but the athlete still stood to lose a lot in the accident had he suffered a career-ending injury.
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Jones didn’t stop after killing Bratu, but continued driving in Lansdowne before striking a mini-van head-on that was carrying two women and a young child, reports the Daily Times. But not even this second accident stopped Jones. He was only stopped after the women in the mini-van gave police partial tag information and a vehicle description. So what penalty did Jones get for this fatal DUI?
]]> Pretty much the minimum sentence. Jones was sentenced to between three and six years in jail and three years’ probation after his release, reports the Daily Times. Generally, causing a death while driving under the influence can result in up to ten years in jail. Three years is the minimum sentence.The 54-year-old Jones pleaded guilty to the crime, which may explain his relatively lenient sentence. But given all the circumstances surrounding the fatal accident, a possible three-year prison stay seems too easy.
Jones committed a litany of offenses — drunk driving with a 0.286 blood alcohol level, drugged driving, hit-and-run, causing a second accident, and not stopping after two separate accidents. And yet he could only stay in jail for the minimum period.
Paul Jones was convicted of killing Randall Bratu in a particularly horrendous DUI. Prosecutors entered a relatively lenient plea deal with Jones. From the outside looking in, it appears that justice was not served and Jones got a light sentence for his actions.
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Paynter also suffered minor injuries in the crash. Following his release from the hospital, he was arrested for driving under the influence after police found marijuana and a stun gun in his car, reports Delaware Online. Despite finding the marijuana, it’s not clear if Paynter was high at the time of the Delaware DUI or if he was drunk on alcohol.
]]> According to police reports, the 26-year-old Paynter, of Philadelphia, was driving a 1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass southbound on Philadelphia Pike when he lost control of his vehicle and spun around into oncoming traffic. Paynter was able to avoid hitting other moving cars, but wound up hitting a couple of trees and a 52-year-old man waiting for the bus.For the DUI death, Paynter was charged with vehicular homicide and driving with a suspended license, reports Delaware Online.
Had this accident occurred in Pennsylvania, Paynter could have faced up to ten years in prison with a minimum three-year jail term. To prove that he was under the influence, prosecutors would have to show that Paynter either had a blood alcohol level of at least 0.08, or that he had any amount of marijuana in his system.
Elton Paynter is accused of the causing the fatal Delaware DUI accident. For either drinking or drugging, Paynter could face a long time behind bars.
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In November, Parker was acquitted of DUI after Municipal Judge Charles Hayden threw out most of the prosecutor's evidence against her, reports the Philadelphia Daily News. Prosecutors appealed the decision and Common Pleas Judge Paula Patrick agreed, ordering that Parker stand trial again, this time confronted with the prosecutor's evidence.
]]> The initial decision by Judge Hayden drew some attention because it had all the appearances of cronyism. Parker and Hayden are Facebook friends and Hayden chose to believe the word of an accused drunk driver over the word of two state troopers.The two state troopers had testified that Parker's eyes appeared glassy, that she smelled of alcohol, that her speech was slowed, that she was unsteady on her feet, and that a Breathalyzer test measured her blood alcohol level to be 0.16, reports the Daily News. Yet Judge Hayden said that the troopers' testimony was not credible and inadmissible.
In her ruling, Judge Patrick said that her fellow judge abused his discretion by throwing out the evidence and said that Hayden should have recused himself from the case because he and the politician are Facebook friends.
Cherelle Parker was acquitted of her DUI and now she will have to stand trial again. True to form in this never-ending DUI trial, Parker's attorney has vowed to appeal the decision by the appellate court, ensuring that this DUI trial will continue for another several months.
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Jacqueline Bortner was pulled over by Springettsbury Township Police in late November after someone called in to report an erratic driver, reports the Dispatch. After catching up with Bortner, police determined her blood-alcohol content (BAC) to be 0.22 percent, almost three times the legal limit in Pennsylvania of 0.08.
]]> For the crime, 48-year-old Bortner could face a highest BAC DUI charge for driving with a BAC above 0.16. In the state, DUI penalties for first time offenders are graded depending upon the person's BAC. Someone with a BAC between 0.08 to 0.099 faces the basic penalties, someone with a BAC between 0.10 and 0.159 faces enhanced penalties, and someone with a BAC above 0.16 faces the most severe penalties and a mandatory jail term.Jacqueline Bortner is reportedly not contesting the charge, and she and her lawyers may be working on a plea deal to avoid a jail sentence.
Nevertheless, Bortner and her attorneys will have to make a deal with the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office. Because Bortner's husband is a criminal judge in the county, the York District Attorney asked that state prosecutors handle the case, given the fact that the county prosecutors would have to practice before Judge Michael Bortner on a daily basis.
Jacqueline Bortner was arrested for driving very drunk last year. She will now have to defend her case against state prosecutors rather than local district attorneys given her husband's influence in the county.
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The 24-year-old Langhorne man will face at least three years in state prison for the fatal DUI accident, reports phillyBurbs.com.
]]> The crash happened during the early morning hours in Lower Southhampton. Officials say that Letukas was driving at least 50 mph in a 35-mph zone when he lost control of his car while taking a turn and struck an oncoming SUV, reports phillyBurbs.The people in the SUV avoided serious injury. However, Letukas' truck was wrecked and his friend 23-year-old Justin Lauer was killed. Twenty-year-old Kevin Peden also suffered serious injury, shattering bones and sustaining internal injuries.
At the time of the accident, Letukas' blood alcohol level was 0.21, well over the legal limit of 0.08, reports phillyBurbs.
Letukas pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol as well as aggravated assault while driving drunk. For the homicide by vehicle charge, Letukas faces a felony of the second degree charge and up to ten years imprisonment. The charge carries a minimum three-year prison sentence.
Surprisingly, the penalty for the aggravated assault by vehicle charge carries the same penalty -- up to ten years in jail -- except there is no mandatory minimum prison stay.
Brennen Letukas pleaded guilty to killing one friend and seriously injuring another in the Bucks County DUI. He faces ten years in jail for each crime, and he will find out soon just how much time he'll have to stay in prison. At the minimum, he should prepare for a three-year absence.
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This is especially true if you pee in front of a cop and then kick the officer several times.
]]> Twenty-four-year-old Deshaunte Douglas of Uniontown was the passenger in a car that was pulled over for a traffic violation, reports The Associated Press. After getting pulled over, Douglas got out of the car, exposed herself to the police officer, and urinated on the ground.It's not clear what the police officer did, but Douglas then really lost it. She screamed profanities at the cop, and kicked him several times as she was put into a patrol car, reports the AP. The police say they had to use a stun gun to subdue the woman.
Douglas pretty much did everything that a drunk person could do wrong at a traffic stop. About the only thing she did right was not driving herself and making sure she had a designated driver.
Douglas was charged with aggravated assault of a police officer and indecent exposure. However, she avoided a driving under the influence charge on top of her other troubles.
Deshaunte Douglas did a lot of things wrong when she got out of a car drunk and confronted a cop. But Douglas was smarter than a lot of other drunks, as she had a designated driver and avoided a DUI charge on her record.
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This time, DeSimone not only damaged his own car and caused injuries to himself, he also struck a flagman in an active work zone, reports the Daily Times. To make matters worse, DeSimone was not arrested for ordinary drunk driving, but instead cops found heroin and syringes in his car and the 20-year-old has been charged with driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
]]> Staying away from hard drugs was apparently not one of DeSimone's New Year's resolutions. Just two days into 2012, the West Chester man drove his Acura into a construction worker on Providence Road, reports the Daily Times.The flagman escaped serious injuries, but was sent to a hospital anyway.
At the stop, police reportedly found drugs and drug paraphernalia on DeSimone, and also discovered that there was an active warrant out for his arrest from a prior DUI and drug possession charge, according to the Daily Times.
With his past history and causing an injury to an innocent bystander, DeSimone could now go to jail for five years. Generally, when someone causes a DUI accident resulting in bodily injury (though not serious bodily injury), the driver faces a jail term of less than six months.
However, when someone is arrested for driving under the influence of a controlled substance like heroin, and has a prior history of the DUI, the driver faces a first degree misdemeanor charge and up to five years in jail.
Given Nicholaus DeSimone's DUI history and outstanding warrant, it's probably a good bet he'll receive a sentence close to five years if convicted.
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According to the Pennsylvania State Police, ten people were killed and 172 others were injured in the 552 investigated crashes from December 30 to January 2. Of those crashes, 79 were alcohol-related and involved two fatalities.
]]> Compared to last year, there was one fewer fatality. However, police say the number of child safety seat violations and DUI arrests went up. State troopers made 285 arrests for driving under the influence. But keep in mind these statistics only include incidents investigated by state troopers and do not include crashes to which other law-enforcement agencies responded.So what does this all mean? Did sobriety checkpoints in places like the Poconos not work?
As with all statistics, these should be taken with a grain of salt. There are many factors that can lead to increases in drunk driving, including the simple fact that more cars may have been on the road or that there were more police responding to accidents.
If not for efforts like public service announcements, an obvious police presence, and sobriety checkpoints to stop drunk driving during the holidays, the number of New Year’s DUI incidents could have been much higher.
The Pennsylvania State Police released DUI statistics that were sobering. DUI arrests went up and the number of fatalities hardly budged as compared to last year. But numbers do not always tell the whole story.
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For Pennsylvania state trooper, Chad Burgwald, that sign was when 47-year-old Heather DeLong came barreling down in her Chrysler, striking Burgwald’s parked police cruiser and sending the trooper to the hospital with serious injuries, reports the Daily Local News.
]]> Last week, Burgwald was sitting in his cruiser in the grass median along Route 1 near Chester County. The trooper was monitoring traffic at about 1 p.m. when DeLong lost control of her car and rammed right into Burgwald's parked car in the median. The accident was so bad that Burgwald had to be freed from his car by rescue personnel, reports Daily Local News.At the scene of the accident, police smelled alcohol on DeLong and when asked if she had been drinking, she said she had consumed wine earlier in the day. After she was given field sobriety tests, a preliminary breath test, and blood tests, DeLong was arrested for drunk driving, reports Daily Local News.
For striking and seriously injuring another person (cop or not) while driving drunk, DeLong faces aggravated assault by vehicle charges. If she is convicted, she could face up to ten years in jail for a second degree felony. Because she did strike a cop, DeLong could face harsh sentencing.
In contrast, had Heather DeLong injured trooper Chad Burgwald while driving sober, she would have only faced a third degree felony charge and up to seven years in jail.
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The crash occurred in the early morning hours last Friday, reports WGAL. At 2:37 a.m., police reported that they attempted to stop a vehicle on North George Street for suspicion of DUI. The vehicle failed to yield for the officer and a pursuit briefly followed for two blocks on North George Street near Masonic Drive.
]]> Broust's fleeing vehicle continued south on North George Street for about a mile before crashing. It's not clear if there were any other vehicles involved in the crash, but the DUI suspect was killed, reports WGAL.Broust made a series of decisions which escalated the situation. Had he just made the right decision at any turning point, he would likely still be alive and probably wouldn't even face any jail time.
For example, if this was Broust's first DUI, and he had just pulled over, he could have been released with just a monetary fine and could have even avoided a DUI conviction on his record.
A suspect fleeing the police while driving under the influence faces felony 3 charges and up to 7 years in jail. Even after Broust decided to flee, had he changed his mind and subsequently pulled over, he would have faced felony charges, but could have mitigated his jail time with contrition and good behavior.
However, Broust wanted to avoid all penalties, and he ended up paying with his life in this York County DUI.
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]]>As 2011 winds down, we recap the top 5 Philadelphia DUI stories of 2011:
]]>Jackass Death. Ryan Dunn of Jackass fame was driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he died in a fiery car accident in Chester County. Dunn was driving drunk at about 130 miles per hour in his Porsche, along with passenger Zachary Hartwell, when he lost control of the car, swerved off the road, and hit several trees. The impact of the crash caused his car to explode. Both Dunn and Hartwell died.
Cherelle Parker DUI Saga. The Pennsylvania politician was arrested for a relatively routine DUI back in April. However, her DUI trial has been anything but routine. A judge chose to suppress key evidence against Parker, and she was acquitted of the DUI. However, it's likely that prosecutors will appeal the ruling, and Parker could end up being a top story in 2012 as well.
School Bus Scare. In a frightening scene for any parent, 25 students of the Westampton Middle School in New Jersey were given a harsh lesson on drunk driving as their drunk school bus driver allegedly drove them home with a blood alcohol level five times the legal limit. Terrified children sent frightened text messages to their parents, ultimately leading to the arrest of Carole Crockett as she waited to pick up another load of children.
Towing a Flipped Boat. The biggest giveaway that Eric Willis was driving drunk was the fact that he was towing a boat that was flipped over the wrong way. Police probably didn't run into probable cause issues in making the arrest.
Wheelchair DUI. Pennsylvania DUI laws don't just apply to drinking and getting behind the wheel of a car, as 63-year-old Connie Lebo learned the hard way. Lebo was arrested at a mobile home park as she drove around in her motorized wheelchair drunk with a blood alcohol limit over twice the legal level.
This past year unfortunately provided too much material for a Philadelphia DUI blog. As we roll into the New Year, no news may be good news.
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