Search results for category: Michigan DUI

Michigan Woman Drives Son to School While Drunk

Suspect arrested for Michigan OWI/DUI after asking police for directions.

Ferndale Michigan police arrested a mother for drunk driving after she stopped to ask for directions. Dena Ellington was trying to locate the Coolidge Intermediate School to drop her 9-year old son off at school. She pulled her Land Rover into the parking lot of Taft Education Center shortly after 8:30 am to ask a police officer for help. The officer detected alcohol and initiated an OWI/DUI investigation.

According to the arrest report, Ellington registered a blood alcohol content of .29%, more than three times the legal limit for driving while intoxicated in Michigan. The Oakland County resident was booked on charges of drunk driving in MI while an officer took the child to school.

It is Ellington's first intoxication arrest. Police are considering elevated charges because the passenger was under 16-years old. If convicted, Ellington could face an additional six months in jail for having a minor in the vehicle.

Were you recently charged with OWI in MI?

'School of Rock' Kid Arrested for Underage DUI in Michigan

17-year old Joey Gaydos arrested at South West Michigan.

Last month the actor/musician who played Zack Mooneyham in the movie 'School of Rock' was charged with driving under the influence in Michigan. Joey Gaydos, Jr. played the student guitarist in the 2003 comedy that featured actor Jack Black. The Van Buren Township police said they arrested Gaydos as he tried to drive away from a local Taco Bell restaurant. The 17-year old was booked on charges of underage DUI.

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Michigan Running Back Kevin Grady Arrested for DUI

Kevin Grady has BAC 3.5 times legal limit in his Michigan drunk driving arrest.

University of Michigan tailback Kevin Grady was arrested for Driving Under the Influence near his home town of Grand Rapids. The 22-year old red shirt junior was stopped in Wyoming, Michigan just before 2:00 am. His blood alcohol content registered 0.281, three and a half times the legal limit.

Grady is the state’s all time leading high school rusher. His performance at UM has been less than stellar, and he missed the 2007 season with a torn ACL. Grady had expressed hope for a good upcoming season, following the graduation of starting tailback Mike Hart.

Rich Rodriguez, the new Wolverines football coach, issued a statement saying the school was aware of the incident and would be reviewing details before dealing internally with the DUI arrest.

If you have been charged with a DUI in Michigan, it is important that you hire a qualified Michigan DUI Lawyer to represent you on your drunk driving charge.

Peculiar Drunk Driving Articles for the Week of March 9, 2008

Really Odd Drunk Driving Articles and News – Couples.

After witnesses reported Joe Ray weaving on the road and hitting at least three other vehicles, police met him at his home. The taxi driver failed a field sobriety test and was arrested for driving under the influence in Tennessee. Valerie Ray headed for the McMinn County Justice Center to pick him up but she also was involved in an accident and was also charged with a Tennessee DUI. Both will appear in court on the same day.

Richard Zubowicz and his wife Becky, of Titusville, had been drinking and then got into an argument about who should drive. After pulling into a Publix grocery parking lot, the couple got out of the vehicle and Zubowicz pushed his wife to the ground. He then got back in his Pontiac Aztek and circled the parking lot. When he returned to the area where they had been, he accidently ran over Becky as she lay on the ground. Responding Florida Highway Patrol officers had to use a jack to free her from under the vehicle. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Richard Zubowicz, 45, was charged with Florida DUI with a serious injury, another count of drinking and driving in Florida and domestic violence.

Tanya Laporte, 33, was involved in an accident and charged with Vermont DUI and drug possession. She called her ex-husband, Michael Laporte, 47, to pick her up at the police station. On the way, he wrecked his car and was charged with drunk driving in Vermont and driving without a valid license.

After a traffic stop for erratic driving, James S. Heath, 59 of Homer, was determined to be driving while intoxicated. His wife Deborah E. Heath, 57, got into the driver’s seat and started to drive off when police also stopped her. She was also charged with a New York DWI. The couple is due to appear in court on the same day.

A man from Ypsilanti, Michigan, with his 12-year old son in the car, ran a red light and was stopped by the police. A breath test showed the man had a blood alcohol content above the legal limit and was charged with a Michigan DUI. The boy called his mother and when she arrived, with her 9-year old daughter in the vehicle, she too was given a breath test and determined to be driving drunk in Michigan. The children were turned over to a relative until the parents sobered up.

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Actor Austin Nichols Gets DUI

'John from Cincinnati' star arrested in Michigan

Austin Nichols was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving in Jackson, Michigan after being spotted around 2:40 in the morning driving the wrong direction on a local street. A breath test showed the 27-year old actor had a blood alcohol content of 0.10. the legal limit for intoxication in Michigan is 0.08. Nichols was booked at the Jackson County Jail and released shortly before 9:00 am.

Nichols was the star of the recently cancelled HBO show 'John from Cincinnati'. Developed by David Milch, the show was a dark comedy about surfers and mysticism. Nichols also appeared in television series 'Deadwood', as well as the films 'Wimbledon' with Kirsten Dunst and 'The Day After Tomorrow' with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Nichols has been spending the summer in Clark Lake, Michigan with extended family. No court arraignment date has been set for the Michigan DUI case.

Tags: DUI |  Michigan DUI |  blood alcohol content |  drunk driving

Michigan DUI Information

Safe Time

By: Jamie Wagner - Staff Writer

For any Michigan Tech student the road and highway systems are a big part of every break, including the semester break coming up. As most of us prepare for the long automotive trek home for the holiday season, we are worried about the road conditions being snowy, icy, whiteout or just plain slow. What may not be common knowledge is that this is the worst time of year for losing your life on the road because of alcohol. Mothers Against Drunk Driving cite that in 1999, 1,610 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic fatalities between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

We have all heard the facts and numbers about drunk driving statistics, but one fact that can be found with any alcohol statistics is that every 33 minutes someone is killed in a drunk driving accident.

The percentage of drunk driving fatalities for Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are all above the national average of 38.4%. In the latest year that data is available, 1998, 536 people lost their lives in Michigan drunk driving accidents. 302 died in Wisconsin, and 280 in Minnesota. Nationwide, 15,935 people were killed by drunk drivers in 1998. In 1999 this number was slightly down to 15, 736 alcohol-related motor vehicle deaths.

The Blood Alcohol Content levels for Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota are all 0.1 BAC. A woman of average health that weighs 140 pounds is legally intoxicated after three drinks in one hour—though her impairment begins with the start of her second drink. For an average healthy man weighing 170 pounds with a full meal in his system, four drinks in one hour will put him at the legally intoxicated level.

To help prevent and combat drunk driving Congress signed a bill in October of 2000 to establish a .08 BAC as the national standard for impaired driving. States have until 2003 to adopt the .08 level and those that do not will have highway construction funds withheld from them every year with the penalty increasing each year. The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century also created incentive grants for states enforcing the .08 BAC standard.

The reason that .08 BAC was chosen is from the results of years of research and studies. Over 80 percent of drivers involved in fatal crashes had alcohol levels exceeding .08 BAC.

All states have strict laws for repeat drunk driving offenders including license and vehicle sanctions, alcohol assessment programs, and mandatory imprisonment or community service. But two thirds of all drunk drivers apprehended each year are first time offenders.

The state of Michigan has tough drunk driving laws to protect those out on the road. These laws have been advertised on radio and TV and in the news in the past year. These laws apply to those over the legal drinking age of 21. The first time a person is convicted of driving after drinking the driver's license will be suspended for 30 to 90 days and four points will be added to the driving record. Michigan's Zero Tolerance law for underage drunk drivers leaves an underage offender nearly defenseless in a court of law.

After being stopped for drunk driving several different charges can be brought against the offender. Operating While Impaired (OWI), means that because of alcohol or other drugs in the body, the ability to operate a motor vehicle was visibly impaired. For a first time offender, the driver's license will be suspended for 90 days and fines up to $300 can be imposed, and/or jail time community service, or vehicle immobilization. For a second offense of OWI, the license is revoked, license plates confiscated, and possible vehicle forfeit. Jail time and community service are also possibilities as well as more fines up to $1000.

The Operating Under the Influence of Liquor offence means that the alcohol in your body substantially affected your driving ability so that you could not operate a motor vehicle safely.

Charges for this are the same as charges for Operating With an Unlawful Bodily Alcohol Content (UBAC), which means at the time you were driving, your bodily alcohol content was 0.1 or more. First time offenders lose their license for six months and face 180 days of immobilization. Jail time and community service and/or $100 to $500 in fines can be levied. Repeat offenders face more serious jail time, revocation of their driver's license, plates and vehicle are almost certain.

If the drunk driving incident causes bodily harm to someone a five-year felony penalty is applied to the drinker. If someone is killed in the drunk driving incident a 15-year felony charge for that conviction is imposed.

When pulled over the police will ask the driver to take some sobriety tests, and refusing is not an option that should be exercised. A Preliminary Breathe Test is the roadside test that can be given immediately and refusal results in a civil infraction and fines up to $100. Under 21 year old drivers will automatically have two points added to their records. After arrest the chemical test is given to determine the BAC, and refusal of this test adds six points to the record, the destruction of the driver's license, and suspension of it for six months months.

Tags: DUI News |  Michigan DUI

Nearly 18,000 Arrested for DUI

Nearly 18,000 Arrested for Drunk Driving in Michigan

John Bumgardner
9/15/2006

Undated - An end-of-summer effort aimed at catching drunk drivers resulted in more than 18,000 arrests in Michigan.

The statewide crackdown ran the last 2 weeks of August through the Labor Day weekend.

Besides catching drunk drivers state police near Detroit and Flint used grant money to go after people with outstanding warrants for alcohol-related convictions.

Those efforts resulted in nearly 259 arrests.

Police across the state also handed out more than 18,000 speeding tickets.

Source: http://www.wzzm13.com

Tags: DUI News |  Michigan DUI

Drunk But Not DUI

Behind wheel drunk, but legal

High court rules there's no evidence woman touched car controls
By Steven Elbow

A person simply sitting in the driver's seat of a parked, idling car cannot be charged with drunken driving, the state Supreme Court said today.

The court ruled that a Cross Plains woman found intoxicated at the wheel of her parked car was not guilty of drunken driving because there is no evidence she ever touched the controls of the car.

The case involves Kristin Haanstad, whom police found intoxicated in the driver's seat of her idling Chevrolet Cavalier in Baer Park in Cross Plains on May 26, 2003.

According to court records, Haanstad had been drinking at a bar for several hours when she handed her keys to a man she was with. The man drove Haanstad and a companion to Baer Park, where he had left his vehicle. The man parked Haanstad's car next to his vehicle and got out of the car, leaving Haanstad's car running with the lights on. He helped his companion into his vehicle and returned to Haanstad's car, where Haanstad had slid from the passenger seat to the driver's seat to let the man into the car so the two could discuss their relationship. She sat with her body and feet toward the man in the passenger seat, never touching the controls of the car.

At about 12:30 a.m., a Cross Plains officer approached the car, and despite the fact that Haanstad explained she had not driven the car, asked her to perform sobriety tests, then arrested her for drunken driving.

The case was thrown out by Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Nicks, but the state Appeals Court reversed Nicks' decision, ruling that Haanstad was in fact operating the vehicle and was guilty of drunken driving.

The Supreme Court today reversed the Appeals Court ruling because there was no evidence that Haanstad actually operated the car.

In a 6-0 decision - Justice Jon Wilcox didn't participate - Justice Louis Butler wrote that state statute specifically spells out what constitutes the operation of a motor vehicle.

The word "operate," the law reads, "means the physical manipulation or activation of any of the controls of a motor vehicle necessary to put it in motion," Butler noted.

"The village does not dispute, and the Court of Appeals concluded, that Haanstad never physically manipulated or activated any of the vehicle's controls. ... Haanstad simply sat in the driver's seat with her feet and body pointed toward the passenger seat," Butler wrote.

Butler drew a sharp distinction between Haanstad's case and a case presented by the village as precedent. In that case a man was charged with drunken driving after he was found sleeping behind the wheel of his pickup truck on an interstate emergency ramp. The defendant admitted driving the truck to the spot where officers found him.

"In contrast, the evidence here is undisputed that Haanstad did not drive the car to the point where the officer found her behind the wheel," Butler wrote.

The village never claimed that Haanstad tried to drive the car or even touched the controls.

"As the Circuit Court judge so aptly stated, 'If she is guilty, she is guilty of sitting while intoxicated,' " Butler wrote.

Source:
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=72621&ntpid=0

Tags: DUI News |  Michigan DUI

Police Can't Be Sued

Police Can't Be Sued in Drunken Driving Case

Police in Center Line can't be sued for allowing a woman who claimed she was too drunk to drive to get behind the wheel of a vehicle, according to a ruling from the Michigan Court of Appeals.

In a 3-0 decision Friday, the court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of Sami Koulta, of Madison Heights, who was killed in a 2002 crash involving Chrissy Lynn Lucero, of Shelby Township.

According to court records, police were called to a home on Sept. 13, 2002, to help remove an unwanted visitor. The officers encountered Lucero and ordered her to leave, which she did. Lucero said she told police she was too drunk to drive, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Minutes later, she ran a red light and smashed into Koulta's vehicle.

Lucero had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent, considered drunk by state law, the newspaper said.

Source: http://www.lsj.com/

Tags: Michigan DUI

Detroit Lions Coach Arrested for DUI

Assistant Coach, Joe Cullen, was cited twice in one week. Once for DUI, once for driving in the nude.

Joe Cullen, the Detroit Lions assistant coach for the defensive line, was arrested twice in just eight days. On August 24 he was charged with indecent and obscene conduct for being nude while driving his 2006 Ford Explorer. There is no explanation as to why Cullen was nude though the Detroit Lions’ organization has stated alcohol was involved. The ticket issued by the Dearborn, Michigan police states Cullen was "driving on public street without any clothes on. (NUDE)."

On September 1 Cullen was arrested again in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn for suspicion of DUI. He was stopped shortly before midnight after a Lions exhibition game. His blood alcohol readings were .12. The legal threshold for drunk driving in Michigan is .08.

In 2003 Cullen was reprimanded for slapping an Indiana football player on the helmet in an attempt to get him ‘fired up’. In the spring of 2005 Cullen was fired from the football program at the University of Mississippi after an alcohol related arrest at a local restaurant. He was employed by the University of Illinois before being recruited by the Detroit Lions. The Athletic Director at Ole Miss said that he was never contacted by the Detroit Lions for a character reference.

The 38 year-old Cullen apologized to fans and the Detroit Lion’s organization, and he has reportedly requested help in seeking treatment. He is scheduled to appear in court next week on both the driving nude and DUI charges.

Tags: DUI |  Detroit Lions |  Joe Cullen |  University of Illinois |  University of Mississippi |  alcohol related arrest |  drink and drive |  suspicion of DUI