DWI Hit Parade!

GREENWOOD, SC –If there was ever a time to beat a DUI charge in South Carolina, it might have been this summer.
Following an order by the state’s Chief Justice to clear a backlog of cases, more than 4,000 DUI cases were dismissed by prosecutors between April 21 and July 21st. That’s 37% of the total number of cases (11,091) that were disposed during that time. The following data is according to figures provided by Chief Justice Jean Toal’s office:
- Greenville County disposed of the second-highest number of cases in the state, 935. (Horry County was first with 1449) – 334 of those cases (36%) were nolle prossed (dismissed). That gives Greenville County a 59% conviction rate for DUIs during that 4-month period. Its conviction rate during the previous 4 months was 75%. By comparison, Anderson and Oconee Counties maintained their conviction rates of 68%.
- Pickens County saw its conviction rate fall from 85% to 43% during that time. ….MORE

From Winston-Salem Journal
Kenneth Smith spent years mentoring young men who had drinking problems.
Smith, 55, had overcome a drinking problem he had as a youth and was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous.
And he was generous, his mother, Patti Rae Smith-Butterfield, said Wednesday in Forsyth Superior Court. He took in stray animals and was helping an Iraq War veteran get back on his feet.
All that ended on Dec. 2, 2010, when Smith was killed after his motorcycle was struck by Christopher Sheffield, who had been drinking before getting behind the wheel of his Jeep.
“My son didn’t come home that night of Dec. 2, and he will never be coming home,” Smith-Butterfield said.
Sheffield, 26, of 4013 Loch Lorien Road in Kernersville, pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony death by …..MORE

From Boston Herald:
A giggling Onyango Obama — the president’s illegal alien half uncle — made a brief appearance in Framingham District Court today on charges he was drunk when he nearly struck an unmarked police cruiser last month.
Obama, 67, was visibly amused at the media spectacle, stifling laughter several times before his 30-second court appearance where a judge set a Nov. 17 pre-trial conference. ….MORE

From Sherman Oaks Patch
A 35-year-old woman remained behind bars today on suspicion of drunken driving and child endangerment after crashing her car in North Hollywood and running away, leaving her 4-year-old child at the scene while her two other very young children were home alone, police said.
Lisette Gonzalez Avakian was discovered hiding behind some bushes near the scene of the crash and arrested by officers, according to police. …..MORE

From Tampa Bay Online
RIDGE MANOR – A WFTS employee was arrested Friday night on suspicion of DUI.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Elizabeth Michelle Gold, 31, of Clearwater, was driving a 2010 Toyota along U.S. 301 in Ridge Manor when she was pulled over by a deputy for driving with her headlights off, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.
Gold was an employee at WTSP Channel 10 news until May, according to the station’s news director. Afterward, she took a job at ABC Action News. …..MORE

From KSDK  Steve Brueggen obit
Florissant, MO (KSDK) – NewsChannel 5 is learning more about the circumstances surrounding the death of a Pattonville School District teacher. It happened on Sunday, and a St. Charles man has been charged in the teacher’s death.
Two deaths actually resulted from what’s being described as a horrific car accident here on westbound Interstate 270, just west of the West Florissant exit.
It happened early Sunday and investigators say a drunk driver, more than twice the legal limit, was responsible for the fatalities…..MORE

From WBTV

NEWTON, NC  – A pregnant woman is in the hospital after a DWI accident that took the life of another woman, NC troopers say.
The wreck happened Sunday night in Catawba County, when the driver of a car changed lanes and crashed into a Jeep Cherokee, the NC Highway Patrol told WBTV.
Both cars went off Highway 321 north of Highway 10 near Newton and flipped over.
The car, a Volkswagen Passat, landed on its wheels with the Jeep on its hood, the NC Highway Patrol said.
The passenger in the Passat, 21-year-old Jennifer Justice, was ejected from the vehicle and died on the scene. She was not wearing a seat belt, troopers said….MORE

From Arkansas Times
Remember Andrew Rhew, the state trooper who was reinstated after being fired for failure to run emergency lights and sirens before a high-speed crash killed an Arkansas motorist?
The State Police reports that he resigned this morning. He turned in his car and other equipment, but gave no specific reason for the resignation. The agency learned later of a possible reason for the resignation.
The Missouri Highway Patrol reports that Andrew Rhew was arrested at 12:23 a.m. Sunday for “driving while intoxicated and failed to drive on right half of roadway resulting in an accident.” A Highway Patrol employee in that district said there were no injuries reported in the accident, but the trooper who had the accident report was not immediately available to provide more details. Rhew apparently lives in the Missouri bootheel. …..MORE

From (NECN: Lauren Collins)
 - It’s not a great way to start the week.
“There was a whole lot of anxiety going on,” says Windham, New Hampshire Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Labranche.
Police started getting reports of a school bus driving erratically around 6:45 Monday morning. Kids on that bus were calling their parents too. Officers found 50-year-old Kimberly Hooley in the middle school parking lot, spoke with her and arrested her for suspicion of DWI.
“The important thing is no one was hurt. Absolutely no one was hurt,” says Labranche.
But the students were shaken up. The bumpy ride to school included a crash into a mail box….MORE

From Standard Speaker
A Pennsylvania State Police trooper from Fairview Township, already facing charges for a DUI arrest in July, has been arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence again, Hanover Township police said.
Hanover Township police said Bernerd Charles Kizis, 47, was arrested following a traffic stop on Main Road around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
Kizis, of Fairview Township, displayed signs of intoxication and failed subsequent field sobriety tests, police said. Charges are pending the results of blood alcohol testing taken at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, police said. …..MORE