A Florida man was hit with a second offense for driving under the influence, moments after paying court costs associated with a previous FL DUI arrest. Gregory Jordan was arrested in the parking lot of the Clerk of Courts Office, where he had just paid his fine. He was spotted driving erratically by a businessman, who called police. Jordan reportedly hit a curb, bottoming out his truck and then kept driving aggressively until he hit the back of a moving truck and clipped a tree.

Jordan told the arresting Neptune Beach police officer that he had a bad week. He remains in jail on charges of drunk driving in Florida and causing property damage.

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A man was arrested for driving while intoxicated in New York while trying to help a stray dog. Oleksandr Nayda found the dog around 10:00 am Saturday and drove to the Monroe Police Department to ask for directions to an animal shelter. The police said that Nayda smelled of alcohol and he told officers he had stopped drinking around 6:00 that morning. Nayda had a .17% BAC and he was booked on charges of DWI in New York.

An animal control officer took the dog to the shelter. Nayda, 38, was held in county jail on $1000 bond.

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A piece of anti-drunk driving legislation in the California State Assembly has been modified by an Appropriations Committee, removing two main points from the original bill. The key changes include the removal of a life-time ‘look-back’ period for prior California DUI arrests and the elimination of a provision allowing judges to permanently suspend a repeat offender’s driver’s license.

Under current state law, the prosecution can search a ten year window for any prior driving under the influence offenses in California. Any DUI more than ten years old is not included on a driver’s record. Regarding license suspension, the existing law allows a judge to revoke a license for three years after a third offense for DUI in California. The proposed legislation sought to change that to a lifetime suspension. The compromise was a revocation of up to 10 years at the discretion of the judge.

Economics were cited for the changes in the proposed bill. California is currently grappling with a $19 billion deficit and any new expenses to the state budget are highly scrutinized. The lifetime look-back period especially would have increased the number of felony DUI convictions, in turn adding more inmates to the already crowded state prison system.

The original bill was challenged by civil liberties advocates and California DUI defense lawyers. It was noted that getting one’s license back is strong incentive for a CA DUI offender to seek treatment for an alcohol problem which would potentially reduce recidivism. As part of the process, it is recommended that repeat offenders be required to install an ignition interlock in their vehicles before having driving privileges restored.

Starting July 1, 2010, California will begin testing a pilot program requiring mandatory installation ignition interlock devices for those arrested for drunk driving in Los Angeles, Tulare, Alameda and Sacramento Counties. If successful, the program may be expanded to the rest of the state.

The author of the DUI legislation is undeterred by the committee changes, saying that compromise is part of the legislative process. He added that any opportunity to remove a drunk driver from the highway is worth it. The bill now heads for a vote on the Assembly floor. If passed it will be taken up by the state Senate.

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Authorities in Maricopa County and Phoenix armed with more than 20,000 warrants are aggressively seeking certain motorists in the court system for driving under the influence in Arizona. The warrants are for those who have been arrested for Arizona DUI and failed to complete actions associated with the crime, like miss a court appearance before a judge or not pay court ordered fines.

The Phoenix Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Maricopa County Adult Probation have teamed up to serve the warrants, and a command center has been set up on the Arizona State Fairgrounds. Forty officers and authorities are involved with the operation. The main focus is the Memorial Day holiday, though the effort will go on for many weeks. Typically an average of 20 arrests on DUI related warrants are made each week, though, during the crackdown, 50 arrests have been made already this week and more than 100 arrests are hoped for through Monday.

The program has been funded with a grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

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A German national being held in an East Tennessee jail for a drunk driving accident that killed a Blountville man has asked to serve his jail sentence in Germany. Wolfgang Christ was sentenced to eight years in state prison last October after pleading no contest to vehicular homicide. He was involved in a crash in May 2006 that killed 33 year old Todd Harr. Christ cited wanting to be closer to his children and family members for the reason for the transfer.

The prosecutor in the case has opposed the request, stating that the offense took place in Sullivan County, it was where the victim in the case resided and where Christ was sentenced. There was a concern that the Tennessee prison system would lose control over Christ’s sentence if he were transferred to Germany. In addition Tennessee’s constitution establishes that victims of crime have the right to be present at all stages of the criminal process, including potential parole hearings. Christ’s sentence includes possible parole after serving 30% of his jail term.

The family of the victim has said that the request for transfer has brought renewed memories of their son and the Tennessee drunk driving incident. They want assurances that Christ remains incarcerated and makes restitution for his actions.

According to prison records, Christ will be eligible for parole on November 20, 2011.

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Hideki Irabu was stopped for suspicion of driving under the influence in Southern California on May 17. The retired major league baseball pitcher reportedly was drifting outside of marked traffic lanes and nearly hit a parked car. Gardena police say that they will wait for the results of a blood test before deciding whether to charge Irabu with DUI in California.

Irabu was booked around 2:00 in the morning and released the next morning after posting $5000 bail. If charged, it will be a first offense misdemeanor DUI.

Irabu lives in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes. He had an excellent record as a pitcher in the Japanese baseball league, though his success in the states was mixed. He played for the New York Yankees, Montreal Expos and Texas Rangers between 1997 and 2002. He then returned to Japan and played until suffering a knee injury. Upon retiring from the sport, Irabu, 41, moved to southern California.

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A Texas man was arrested Monday night for suspicion of driving under the influence in Florida, after being involved in two accidents. He is also accused of setting fire to a police cruiser during his arrest.

Around 11:15 pm Jonathan Daniel Elenbaas struck a pole in a convenience store parking lot and then hit a car a short distance away. Hernando County sheriff’s deputies responding to the scene saw Elenbaas “staggering all over the road.” During the arrest and scene investigation, Elenbaas was placed in the backseat of a deputy’s cruiser. Shortly after, a witness saw smoke coming from the vehicle. Elenbaas was removed from the vehicle and the fire was extinguished. Apparently a traffic vest had been ignited and the flames spread to the front seat of the cruiser. Elenbaas did have a lighter in his front pocket, but he denied setting the fire.

Elenbaas, 31, was booked on charges of DUI in Florida with property damage, arson and careless driving. He declined to submit to a breath test. He has a 2008 drunk driving offense on his record from Pennsylvania. Considered a flight risk, bond for Elenbaas was set at $10,000.

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Mary Richardson Kennedy has been formally charged with driving while intoxicated in New York. The wife of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was stopped around 9:00 pm on May 15 when a police officer directing traffic at a school carnival saw her drive onto a curb with her Volvo. When the officer investigated, Kennedy exhibited signs of intoxication, including slurred speech and an odor of alcohol. Kennedy said that she was to pick up people at the carnival.

Kennedy reportedly failed several field sobriety tests and she was taken to a police station for booking on the offense of DWI in New York. A breath test at the station revealed a BAC of .11%.

Mrs. Kennedy was released on personal recognizance and is scheduled to appear in court May 29.

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Lindsay Lohan appeared in a Los Angeles court yesterday to face questions stemming from a 2007 DUI offense in California. Lohan missed a mandatory court appearance last Thursday, claiming that her passport had been stolen while at the Cannes Film Festival. That meeting was to determine progress in Lohan’s terms of probation and her absence prompted the judge to issue a warrant for her arrest. The warrant was later dropped after a $100,000 bond was posted.

During Monday’s court session, Judge Marsha Revel set additional, strict rules for Lohan, including completion of alcohol education classes, abstaining from all alcohol, wearing an alcohol detecting ankle bracelet and undergoing random drug testing every week. Lohan did manage to avoid a jail sentence.

Lohan’s defense attorney attempted to argue for dropping the ankle bracelet, saying the “bulky” device could interfere with her client’s pending photo shoots and plans to appear in a movie to be filmed in Texas. The judge did not change her mind regarding the SCRAM bracelet and affirmed that all drug and alcohol testing would have to be done in California, leading her to add that the actress may have to delay her projects. After briefly consulting with her attorney, Lohan agreed to all conditions.

The judge also set a July 6 date for a probation violation hearing to address Lohan’s failure to appear in court last week.

In related news, Lohan gave an interview before the court appearance where she questioned the need for rehab or jail, stating that she felt she was “in compliance with everything that occurs when you’re in the court system for two (California) DUIs.”

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The driver of a bus in northern Ohio was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence in Ohio following an accident. The bus was chartered to transport 12 middle-school students and two adult chaperones from Hilliard, near Columbus, to Cedar Point, along Lake Erie.

In Attica, Ohio, about thirty miles from the amusement park, the driver lost control of the vehicle. Ronald L. Williams, 46, was driving a 2000 Ford vehicle as part of a caravan when he veered off the left side of road, hit a deep ditch and then managed to steer the bus back onto the road. He left a 75 foot long trail of debris from the undercarriage of the bus. The accident occurred at 8:35 in the morning. No one was seriously injured though several students suffered bumps and bruises and one adult was treated for a back injury. The children were put on other busses and continued on to Cedar Point.

Police detected alcohol on Williams’ breath and his blood alcohol concentration registered .103%. He was charged with Ohio DUI, child endangerment, failure to control a vehicle, and operating a commercial vehicle without the correct type of license.

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