Posts

‘Drunk’ GOP Rep, 77, Caught on Video Failing Field Sobriety Test After Alleged Hit-And-Run Crash

/0 Comments/in , /by

A Tennessee state senator has been arrested on a DUI charge after he was filmed allegedly failing a sobriety test following a drunken hit-and-run crash in Georgia.

Rep. Ken Yager, 77, was caught on camera stumbling around as troopers tried to make him walk in a straight line on Jekyll Island at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, footage obtained by WTVF shows.

The Republican lawmaker was nabbed after authorities spotted his Ford Edge with Tennessee-issued Senate tag license plates in a supermarket parking lot following reports the vehicle had been involved in an earlier hit-and-run crash, the Georgia Department of Public Safety said.

Yager — who is the GOP’s Senate Caucus Chair — allegedly smelled of alcohol and admitted to being involved in the earlier wreck, according to authorities. (Read more from “‘Drunk’ GOP Rep, 77, Caught on Video Failing Field Sobriety Test After Alleged Hit-And-Run Crash” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Alaska Man, 63, Charged With DUI on Shopping Cart

/0 Comments/in /by

dui on shopping cart

Photo Credit: Tobyotter

Police arrested an Alaska man who they say was driving a motorized shopping cart while drunk and in possession of stolen cookies and cake mix.

Merrill K. Moses, 63, was arraigned this week in Fairbanks on charges of drunken driving, shoplifting and refusing to take an official sobriety test. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 5, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Saturday.

A grocery store employee called police Wednesday night after seeing Moses drive into parking lot traffic. The employee was worried that Moses would collide with a car.

“When an officer arrived, a store employee was holding onto the handlebars of the cart to keep the suspect from driving any further,” said Sgt. Bruce Barnette at the Fairbanks Police Department.

Read more from this story HERE.

One Drink DUI? Feds Want Lower Threshold for Drunk Driving

/1 Comment/in , /by

Photo Credit: APA federal agency is proposing that states lower the threshold for drunken driving to the point where a woman could be charged for driving after one drink and a man after two in a move officials say would save thousands of lives.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all states drop the blood-alcohol level at which motorists can be charged with driving drunk to .05, down from the current rate of .08 that all 50 states impose. The threshold is a matter of state law, but the federal government can pressure states to meet its standard by threatening to withhold highway funding.

“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “Alcohol-impaired deaths are not accidents, they are crimes. They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

More than 100 countries have adopted the .05 alcohol content standard or lower, according to an NTSB report. In Europe, drunken driving deaths were cut by more than half a decade after the stricter standard was implemented.

Studies show a woman weighing less than 120 pounds can reach .05 after just one drink, while a man weighing up to 160 pounds reaches .05 after two drinks.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘Tis The Season: US Senator Charged with DUI, Released on $1,000 Bond

/8 Comments/in , /by

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – — Idaho Sen. Michael Crapo was arrested early Sunday morning and charged with driving under the influence in a Washington, D.C., suburb, authorities said.

Police in Alexandria, Va., said Sunday that the three-term Republican was pulled over after his vehicle ran a red light. Police spokesman Jody Donaldson said Crapo failed field sobriety tests and was arrested at about 12:45 a.m. He was transported to the Alexandria jail and released on an unsecured $1,000 bond at about 5 a.m.

“There was no refusal (to take blood alcohol tests), no accident, no injuries,” Donaldson said. “Just a traffic stop that resulted in a DUI.”

Police said Crapo, who was alone in his vehicle, registered a blood alcohol content of .110. The legal limit in Virginia, which has strict drunken driving laws, is .08.

The 61-year-old Crapo has a Jan. 4 court date.

Read more from this story HERE.