St. Patricks Day - Stay Safe!

St. Patrick's day is one of the biggest drinking holidays of the year, and police are taking it very seriously this weekend. Across the country police are preparing for the weekend by having more officers on hand. Law enforcement agencies in 26 counties across Michigan are conducting more than 13,200 hours of extra patrols to arrest drunk drivers now through April 8.

In most states across the US, it is illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher, although motorists can be arrested at any BAC level if an officer believes they are impaired. Motorists face enhanced penalties if arrested for a first-time drunk driving offense with a .17 BAC or higher.




“It doesn’t matter if you’re out rooting for your favorite team at the local sports bar or celebrating the luck of the Irish at the corner pub, if alcohol is part of the festivities make sure you designate a sober driver to get you home safely,” says Michael Prince, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.

And I can't stress it enough. If you plan on drinking this holiday weekend know your limits! If you're driving yourself home, don't over-do it and give yourself enough time to sober up before you get behind the wheel. If you plan on getting drunk, have a responsible designated driver lined up. If you can't, drink at home.

Stay safe this weekend, and have a happy holiday!


Click here for the original article

Drunk Driver Kills Brother and Injurs Nephew

Felix Jacobo Brito, 37, of Costa Mesa was driving drunk at high speed with his 47-year-old brother, Felipe Brito, was in the front passenger seat and his 27-year-old nephew, John Andrade, was in the back. Trying to fly past another vehicle, he rode up on the curb and hit a light pole and palm tree.

Felix Brito after being arrested.

The crash killed his brother and injuring his nephew. Filipe was pronounced dead at the scene, and John was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for several broken ribs and other injuries

Brito has been charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated with gross negligence, one felony count of driving under the influence, causing bodily injury, and a misdemeanor count of driving a motor vehicle without a valid license. He's being held on $100,000 bail.

If convicted, Brito faces up to 7 years in jail.



Click here for original article

Drunk Driver Gets Caught In Drug Bust

Hingham police responded to reports of drunk driving activity Saturday night, but ended up getting more than they bargained for. 

Conte, and the possessions police took from his car. 

Police saw the vehicle in question swerve and hit a snow bank, then continued to drive down the road. Police tried to pull him over, but the man kept going - doing 60mph in a 30mph zone.



After pursuit, 20 year-old Stephen Conte finally stopped his vehicle and was arrested for driving under the influence and failure to stop for a police officer. Police could smell the alcohol on his breath even though Conte refused any sobriety tests.

Officers noticed more than an ounce of marijuana on the floor of Conte's car, and upon further inspection found  an empty bottle of whiskey and a backpack containing two digital scales, a grinder, a pipe, two plastic jars containing 5.7 ounces of marijuana, four oxycodone pills, a large empty freezer bag and $3,500 in cash.


Click here for the original article

Man Charged With 5th DUI, Hit's Officer's Car And Threatens Woman's Life.

Newburyport native Michael Lieber was arrested in Salisbury after not only hitting a police officer's car, but threatening to kill a woman.

Lieber's drunken rampage started out at the Beach Cove Cabins in Salisbury where he allegedly left the scene after striking a retaining wall. He then failed to stop at an intersection which led to him hitting a vehicle which happened to be an off duty Newburyport  police officer about 15 minutes after the first incident.

Michael Lieber, 53

According to Salisbury police Chief Tom Fowler, the incidents with Lieber unfolded quickly, beginning about 6 p.m., when the station received a call from Beach Cove Cabins. According to Fowler, Lieber and a female companion had pulled into Beach Cove Cabins requesting a room.

“The proprietor refused to give him the room” Fowler said. “And when (Lieber) was going, he struck a retaining wall, but didn’t stop at the scene."

After getting calls which connected the two incidents to the same person, several officers headed to the address where Lieber was said to be. In his report, Salisbury Sgt. Eugene Scione said he found Lieber so intoxicated, the smell of alcohol was “overwhelming,” he “swayed in a circular motion” when he stood, and his speech was so slurred “he was almost completely unintelligible.”


It was after being arrested and handcuffed, and while being escorted to the cruiser by officer James Leavitt, that Lieber threatened his female companion’s life as he walked past her, Scione wrote.

“He mumbled something to the effect, ‘When I get out, you (expletive), I’m going to find you and (expletive) kill you,’” Scione wrote. “Officer Leavitt then stated to (Lieber), ‘You shouldn’t threaten to kill someone in front of a police officer.’”


Later whie Lieber was booked at the station, he stood up to relieve himself at the urinal, but due to his extreme state of inebriation, he lost his balance and fell backwards, knocking himself out. He then had to be taken to the hospital where an officer had to 'babysit' him all night until his hearing in the morning.

Prosecutors immediately filed a motion with the court for a dangerousness hearing, believing Lieber should be held without bail until his trial because he is too much of a danger to be allowed out on jail. The judge agreed. 

People like this should be locked up for good.


Click here for the original article

Drunk Driver Up For Parole

Robert Robertson was sentenced to 15 years in prison but is facing a parole hearing next month. Angie Maue opposes this hearing. Why? Because back in 2001 Robertson kill her 7 year-old son. 

Robertson's blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he crashed his vehicle on the sidewalk next to the San Diego Zoo where Luke Maue and 45 of his classmates were having a field trip. Luke was struck and killed. 


Angie Maue says she will be at Robertson parole hearing because he needs to know what her family's life has been like and all of the things they've missed because of Luke's death.

You can visit Luke's page at http://lukes-legacy.org/



Click here for the original article

Drunk Driver Could Face 15 Years In Prision

Raphael Dorrough was found guilty this Tuesday for operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving causing death. The 24 year-old faces up to 15 years in prison. 

As evidence shows, Dorrough was doing 65mph in a 35mph zone and had substantial amounts of alcohol and drugs in his system. He struck and killed Jaryn Stevens who was only 22. 

Stevens was on his way to work when his car ran out of gas. He called a friend who came to bring him more when they saw the car coming toward them. The two men tried to jump out of the way however Stevens was pronounced dead on the scene while his friend suffered minor injuries. 

“Driving while impaired from alcohol or drugs can be a deadly formula as this case clearly demonstrates,” said prosecutor David Leyton.

Dorrough goes back to court for sentencing on March 25th. Though if you ask me, 15 years isn't nearly enough. 


Click here for the original article

Drunk Driving Laws - Harsh Enough?

North Carolina has pretty lax rules when it comes to repeat drunk drivers. The odds that someone who does not habitually drink and drive will get caught the one time they accidentally had too much is pretty slim, even more slim that they get caught twice. Drivers with a BAC above the legal limit who get caught twice or more most likely have serious drinking problems.

Under current law, a driver must be convicted of four DWIs within a 10-year period before the state’s sternest penalties kick in. Then, if the defendant spends enough time in prison, he or she can return to society with all the purity before the law of someone with no convictions.

Drunk driver Travis Fain has had numerous drunk driving charges and been jailed twice, yet he is not considered a habitual offender. He even killed a couple and their baby in the 1980's due to drunk driving.. But with all of the charges, he has not been convicted 4 times in ten years.. and quite a few of those years were spent in jail!

House Bill 31 is being looked at which would change the law to say that once someone is convicted as a habitual offender, he or she will always be a habitual offender when sentenced for new drunken driving convictions. Drivers convicted on the basis of numerous offenses would not get clean slates ever again.

There should be harsher laws against drunk drivers in all states. How can a man who's murdered a family not be considered a habitual drunk driver and a danger to society?


Click here for the original article