A Long Island woman was charged with drunk driving in New York after her 12-year old daughter called 911 from the car. State police report that Jamie Hicks had her two children in her car when she was stopped Sunday night. Under New York DWI law, having a minor in the vehicle and driving while intoxicated constitutes a felony offense.

A breath test revealed that Hicks, 49, had a blood alcohol content of .18%, more than twice the legal limit for intoxication. She was booked for DWI in NY, posted $2000 bond and was released. Hicks is due in court August 17.

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The Florida Highway Patrol is reviewing a case involving a possible drunken Jacksonville police officer receiving special treatment earlier this year after an accident. The officer was reportedly intoxicated at the time yet he was not charged with driving under the influence in Florida.

An internal affairs report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says that Officer Lennell Boyer was off-duty and driving his own vehicle on March 7 when he crashed into slow moving dump-truck on Interstate 95. Boyer was placed in the back seat of a police cruiser while an accident investigation was conducted. Because intoxication was suspected, the JSO contacted the Florida Highway Patrol to undertake that portion of the investigation. According to police documents, Boyer tried to flee the scene, made numerous phone calls to a police communications center while in the police vehicle, pounded on the door of the cruiser and urinated on the floor. The JSO report goes on to note that several officers at the scene were surprised that the FHP did not arrest Boyer for FL DUI.

JSO internal affairs detectives interviewed the FHP trooper who was at the scene, who said that alcohol was detected but Boyer did not appear to be intoxicated. As a consequence, no field sobriety tests were conducted and Boyer was issued a ticket for careless driving and released.

In response, the JSO supervisor at the accident scene ordered Boyer to submit to a test for blood alcohol content under an administrative proceeding, which Boyer could not refuse. Two tests resulted in a BAC in excess of .12%. The legal threshold for intoxication in the State of Florida is .08%. Because the tests were conducted under an administrative process, however, the results are not admissible as evidence in court and charges of drunk driving were not filed.

Boyer was suspended for one month without pay for conduct unbecoming of an officer. The JSO says the suspension would have been longer if Boyer was on duty at the time of the incident.

Citing its on-going investigation into whether preferential treatment was provided to a law enforcement officer involved in suspected Florida DUI, the FHS has refused comment.

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A Santa Rosa teenager was arrested for assault and DUI in California following a road rage incident. The California Highway Patrol says that a Petaluma woman called around 4:00 am Sunday morning to report a 2-door black Acura following her on northbound US Highway 101. The Acura driver was tailgating the woman and then would sped pass her only to slam on his brakes. The driver also swerved in a presumed attempt to force her off the road.

The woman provided a description of the Acura to CHP who in turn alerted local law enforcement agencies. A Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy spotted the Acura and initiated a traffic stop. The driver, eighteen-year old Carlos Gomez, was suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and taken into arrest. He was booked into the county jail on charges of CA DUI, assault with a deadly weapon, driving without a valid license and driving without insurance.

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Georgia State Patrol troopers report an accident that led to the arrest of a Cobb County police captain Saturday morning for drunken driving. Cuauctemoc Rosas was driving northbound in the southbound lanes of a highway in Douglas County around 2:00 am when he struck Cpt. David Gallmon. The responding GSP officer detected alcohol on Gallmon’s breath and suspected he was driving under the influence in Georgia. Gallmon refused to submit to a breath test, and he was taken to the Douglas County Jail and booked for GA DUI. Gallmon posted a $1000 bond and was released.

Gallmon, 48, is the head of the Cobb County Police Department’s Precinct 2 in the southwest area of the county. He has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The other motorist, Rosas was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital in central Atlanta. The GSP says he will be facing charges.

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The Colorado State Patrol closed westbound Interstate 70 near Grand Junction Monday night after a tractor trailer carrying beer crashed and overturned. The driver, Dale A. Van Vuren, was traveling westbound around 9:40 pm when his rig went off the road, hit a traffic containment wall, rolled onto its left side and slid some distance down the highway. The overturned truck came to a stop blocking both westbound lanes.

Deputies suspect Van Vuren was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. Van Vuren, 49, consented to a test for blood alcohol content, the results of which will not be known for several weeks. He was arrested on charges of suspicion of Colorado DUI and careless driving, and later released with a summons.

Sparks from the crash caused the truck and nearby grass to catch fire, both which were extinguished by firefighters within 30 minutes. The interstate was closed for six hours. The truck was carrying 40,000 pounds of beer.

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San Diego County sheriff’s deputies stopped a transit bus and arrested the driver for driving under the influence in California. On June 1, Davis Costello was driving a North County Transit bus when a passenger suspected he may be intoxicated and contacted the Sheriff’s Department. The Route 309 bus, which operates between Oceanside and Encinitas, was stopped around 4:25 pm in Encinitas.

Deputies conducted field sobriety tests and determine that Costello was under the influence of alcohol. He faces charges of California DUI, driving with a blood alcohol content in excess of .08% and driving a commercial vehicle with a BAC of more than .04%. According to the District Attorney’s Office, all were filed as misdemeanor offenses. Costello was charged with two counts of public intoxication in April.

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A Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Gary Lee Bullock for not dimming his high-beams for on-coming traffic. The deputy noticed a strong odor of alcohol and saw a glass with brown liquid in the car’s cup holder. A half empty bottle of Red Stag bourbon was found in the vehicle.

During a search, officers found a live sand dollar in Bullock’s pocket, along with five live sand dollars in a bag in the trunk.

Bullock said the car was not his and that he did not have a driver’s license. He reportedly failed a field sobriety test. Bullock, 60, was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence in Florida and booked at the Lee County jail. He also faces charges for violating a county ordinance prohibiting the taking of live sand dollars.

A deputy returned the sand dollars to the Gulf of Mexico.

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A 30-year old Flint Michigan man admitted during his arrest for drunk driving that he had been drinking, and the reason was LeBron James’ decision to play for the Miami Heat next season. The unidentified man said he was upset that James had turned down playing for the Boston Celtics. Lebron James had actually turned down the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he played on for the past seven seasons. Boston was not in contention for the prized free agent basketball player.

After seeing the driver swerve, police conducted a Michigan DUI investigation. A breath test showed a blood alcohol content of 0.16%, twice the threshold for impairment and the man was cited for driving under the influence in Michigan.

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Gov. David Paterson signed legislation closing a perceived loophole in New York DWI law. Jack Shea’s Law expands the list of personnel authorized to conduct blood draws in suspected cases of driving while intoxicated in New York without a doctor’s supervision. Previously only physicians, registered nurses and registered physician’s assistants could legally draw blood from a drunk driving suspect without having a doctor present. The new legislation extends that authority to certified nurse practitioners and emergency medical technicians. In addition clinical lab technicians and medical personnel can conduct blood draws in the presence of a doctor, physician’s assistant or certified nurse.

Shea’s Law is named after Olympic gold medal winner Jack Shea, who was struck and killed by suspected drunk driver Herbert Reynolds in January 2002. Both Shea and Reynolds were taken to a nearby medical center. At the request of police and the permission of Reynolds, a blood sample was drawn. Lab results showed Reynolds blood alcohol content was .15%, well above the legal limit for impairment. That evidence was ruled inadmissible because the blood draw was taken by an unauthorized medical technician without the supervision of a doctor. The New York DWI, vehicular manslaughter charge and other traffic violations against Reynolds were eventually dismissed.

Jack Shea’s son, Jim Shea Sr., has spearheaded efforts to amend the law. With the recent signing by the governor, Jim Shea said it has been a “long and frustrating journey”.

Jack Shea won two speed-skating gold medals during the 1932 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, his hometown. He was instrumental in getting the Olympics back to Lake Placid for the 1980 games. His son, Jim Shea, Sr., competed in Nordic skiing at the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. His grandson, Jim Shea, Jr, won a gold medal at the 2002 games in Salt Lake City, just a few weeks after Jack was killed.

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The Regional Forensic Laboratory serving Anoka, Sherburne and Wright counties has admitted to errors in calculating blood alcohol content in suspected Minnesota drunk drivers. Urine tests since the beginning of the year showed BAC levels about one-third higher than they actually were. As a consequence, many drivers charged with driving while intoxicated in Minnesota were not legally impaired.

The DWI cases of hundreds of motorists could be impacted. Many have already been to court and accepted an agreement to plead guilty, and others have been incarcerated on the false test results.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension reviewed the lab processes and determined the incorrect BAC readings were due to a calculation error on the part of the lab technicians. A county prosecuting attorney said that, “People make mistakes”, and felt the lab had addressed the incident with professionalism.

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