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Two Portland Officers Arrested for DUI
Arrests occurred within 8 days of each other
Two officers with the Portland Police Bureau were arrested for driving under the influence in two separate incidents. On Saturday, November 6, Officer Joshua Sparks was stopped for speeding by the Washington State Patrol and booked for suspicion of DUI. Then on Sunday, November 14, Officer John Shadron was arrested for drunk driving by the Gresham Oregon police after crashing into another vehicle. No one was injured in that accident.
Both officers were off-duty at the time of their arrests. A spokesperson with the PDX says the officers have been placed on desk duty pending an internal review and the outcome of their criminal cases.
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Oregon Police Officer Busted for Arresting Sober Motorists for DUI
Oregon Officer had a high DUI arrest record before resigning after an investigation.
Police Officer Dave Cox made 27 of the 35 total DUI arrests in Corvallis, Oregon during the month of May 2007, and he was named DUII Enforcement Officer of the Year four years ago. It now seems that a performance oriented system lead Cox to arrest of sober motorists, including as many as 6 last May.
On May 11, David E. Picray drove to a bar to pick-up his wife and friends. Through a text message he learned the group had moved to another bar a block away. Picray drove closer to the second bar, and the short distance moved aroused the suspicion of Officer Dave Cox.
Cox wrote in his drunk driving arrest report that Picray’s eyes were bloodshot and watery and that his tongue had a light green coating. Picray had been suffering from a cold and was chewing gum. Picray registered a 0.00% blood alcohol content on a Breathalyzer, and a drug test revealed only trace amounts of codeine from cold medicine.
Picray notified the City of Corvallis of his intent to sue for false arrest, which lead to an investigation of Officer Cox. It was discovered that at least six of 27 motorists arrested by Cox for Oregon DUI last May registered BAC levels below the legal limit of 0.08% and drug tests were negative. Nonetheless, the majority of the arrest reports from May contained nearly identical notations of "bloodshot and glassy eyes" and other alleged indicators of intoxication.
Oregon DUI defense attorneys claim it is a common practice to write an arrest report to reflect what the officer should have seen in order to substantiate the arrest. The larger concern is that police officers have learned that pay reviews and awards can be influenced by performance; the higher the number of arrests, the greater the potential for reward. Unfortunately this system places economics as a higher motive for issuing traffic citations than highway safety.
Officer Cox was placed on paid leave and he subsequently resigned. Picray was not charged with an Oregon DUI, though the arrest will remain on his record.
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Son of University of Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti in Middle of DUI Controversy
Colleen Bellotti accosts journalist over article about son Luke’s two Oregon DUIs .
Luke Bellotti is the part-time kicker for the University of Oregon Ducks football team, and the son of head coach Mike Bellotti. Luke was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII) not once, but twice in the past year. He recently entered a guilty plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors and he must spend five days in jail before December 30.
The story takes a few twists and turns from that point.
Even though the University of Oregon athletic department publicly announced the suspension of football receiver Derrick Jones for ‘a violation of team rules’, the suspension of the team mascot for fighting with the Houston Cougars mascot and the recent suspension of two basketball players, it elected to keep Luke Bellotti’s three game suspension a secret. The coaching staff decided instead to explain the absence of the coach’s son as a case of ‘digestive illness’.
A sports journalist with The Oregonian revealed Luke Bellotti’s drunk driving arrests, and questioned the perceived double standard in remaining quiet about the suspension of the head coach’s son while making public the alcohol related transgressions of other athletes. During the Oregon Ducks football game against PAC 10 conference rival USC Trojans, coach Mike Bellotti’s ex-wife Colleen sought out the journalist to berate him for writing about her son’s DUI arrests. She, along with friends, several young children, Luke’s girlfriend and a nanny entered the press box at Autzen stadium during the fourth quarter of the Oregon-USC game and proceeded to go on a profanity-laced tirade. Colleen Bellotti’s breath reportedly reeked of alcohol, as she grabbed the journalist’s suit lapel and threatened to slap him. The nanny, holding Bellotti’s infant son, also entered the fray with her own string of profanity.
The situation ended with Oregon's sports information director calling security.
www.goducks.comusctrojans.cstv.com
www.pac-10.org
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American Idol Contestant Has Oregon DUI
Thomas Daniels was convicted of drunk driving in 2004
One of the few contestants to impress the judges at the Seattle auditions of American Idol has a DUI arrest record.
Thomas Daniels, 21, entered a guilty plea to an Oregon DUI arrest in 2004, and was required to pay a fine, join a one-year alcohol program, attend AA meetings and regularly see a probation counselor.
The DUI arrest was to be expunged from his records after completion of the court mandated requirements stemming from his conviction.
The Oregon DUI was not Daniels’ only arrest. In late 2005 he was involved with a hit-and-run accident. He failed to appear in court for that incident and he was arrested again.
Daniels did not indicate whether he disclosed his criminal past to the producers of American Idol.
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