another drunk caught in Mainjet's web

[mainjet]

I was sitting with the fam watching TV when my daughter comes out of her room and says "Dad did you just hear that?" I said "Hear what?" She tells me that she just heard something skid and then heard a crash and she things someone just crashed outside.

I live on the inside of a 90 degree turn which my son call's the "drunk web" because drunks seem to not make it around the turn. They make it part way and then run off and hits some trees and get stuck. They are always trying to get away. I don't like it when drunks crash in front of my house because it really makes me feel like you could have just killed on of my kids or my wife.

I ran out there with no coat or shoes on. I noticed that the vehicle had some kind of plates FF or FP but I could not tell which. I got to his window and saw he had a patch on his shoulder and something on his hat. I told hime to roll the window down (so I could smell his breath). I quickly could smell the vodka and knew it was another drunk. He was trying to back out but I reached in and turned off the truck. I tried to get the keys but they would not come out. He was pleading with me to let him go and he was trying to get my hands off the keys. I told him that it wasn't going to happen.

He told me he wasn't drunk and that he had slipped on a patch of ice. (the streets were dry). I had one hand on his keys and the other hand on his left shoulder holding him. He was bleeding from the head and maybe other places. My neighbor and son were out there with flashlights. He continued to struggle, plead and try to try to pry my hand off the keys. I had to shove him pretty hard over to the passengers side to get him to stop and I did not know if he had any weapons. I told my son to call 911.

Again I had to shove the guy and tell him to keep his hands on the steering wheel. When I pushed him the second time I felt the key release button on the ignition. So I pushed it and pulled the keys out, handing them back to my son. Then I let the guy sit back up and I took my hands off of him. He reached for the ignition and the keys were gone. He kind of sunk and said "Give my keys back".

The cops got there and asked if he was fire deptartment. "yes, I am". (the cop told me later that he was a 23 year firefighter). SOme of the fire guys knew who he was when they got there. Also, the cop asked if he had come through the intersection a few miles back. He said he had not. But the cop said "Well, I think you did because I saw you and you stopped in the middle of the intersection". "I should have pulled you ver then".

Now I ask my son to go get me some shoes, a coat and my wallet (wasn't sure if the cop was going to see my gun so I wanted to have my LTCH).

He was under arrest but they took him by ambulance for now. In his console was a bottle of vodka. I think he had another bottle in the truck also.

I feel bad for a guy that serves like this but when he comes to my house where he could hurt my family or someone else, I loose all respect. How many times has this guy pulled dead people out of a car because of a drunk driver? My wife thinks that they will probably fudge the record for him and he will skate on this. Probably so.

This now brings my drunk driver apprehension count to 3 different ones that I have had to physically restrain. 1 hit and run driver and two on this same corner outside my house. The corner also collected one that I was not at home for when another girl - high on drugs ran into the trees and was trapped inside the burning car. My neighbor and a police officer were able to get her out before she died.

Be careful out there folks and think before you drink and drive. Thankfully he hit a fence and some trees and not my family. Thank God for His protection over my family

 

[shibumiseeker]

I hate drunk drivers with a special passion. Good on you for keeping another one from getting away.

 

[danielocean03]

I hate drunk drivers with a special passion. Good on you for keeping another one from getting away.

 

[bluewraith]

You would think that we would know better, seeing the aftermath of drunken driving.. but sadly that is not the case for some people. Glad hes alive, but I hope his department burns his ass for DD, especially while wearing a patch.

On our department, you can't even walk into a liquer store wearing a t-shirt or hat with our name or patch on it.

 

[Hoosierdood]

I hate drunk drivers with a special passion. Good on you for keeping another one from getting away.

+2

 

[mainjet]

You would think that we would know better, seeing the aftermath of drunken driving.. but sadly that is not the case for some people. Glad hes alive, but I hope his department burns his ass for DD, especially while wearing a patch.

On our department, you can't even walk into a liquer store wearing a t-shirt or hat with our name or patch on it.

Well when the guy is driving around with Fire Fighter plates on his car and he's drunk it's a bad advertising at the very least.

I think that the reason the county did not pull him over a couple miles before the accident is because he saw the FF plates. Then just a few minutes later he gets the call about the accident. I wonder how that would have felt if it was a fatality.

 

[churchmouse]

Had something similar happen in my driveway. I was selling one of my pick-up trucks and had a lot of people stopping to look at it. My son and daughter were living next door and she called me in a panic. Someone had pulled into the drive at her house and was passed out at the wheel. I went out but with my piece. Little Mexican fellow was passed out with the radio blaring and his car idling in gear up against daughters truck. I reached in and shut it off as she called 911. He woke when the radio stopped and started fighting me for the keys. They would not come out as the car was in drive. I had the leverage on him and pinned him back in the seat with my right arm using the wheel as a lever point and his Adams apple as the fulcrum. His resistance died off when I put my 260 lbs. into it and he was docile when the leo's arrived. Turns out he wanted to buy my truck. I wanted him to go to jail. I won. No tolerance for DD or UTI driving these days.

 

[mainjet]

Yea, I thought the keys would not come out because it was in drive also. I kept telling him to put it in park. I didn't see the stick shift. I did try to break the key off in the ignition when I couldn't get them out. I gave them a yank but it just bent some. Once I felt that key lock switch I had them out in no time. He never saw me take them.

I was concerned that as he got more deperate that he could pull a weapon. So when my son said "do you want me to go to the other side" I told him no because I knew if I had to fire it would be in that direction. At this point I did not know that he was a FF.

You can just see it in their eyes as they look at you that they are calculating what they are going to do. They are decideing if they are going to fight or not. I told him something like "I can see your thinking about doing something and I can tell you that your going to get hurt". IT did seem to make him take a different tact and plead with me to let him go. He also gave me several differing reasons why he should be let go for this ecuse and that excuse.

I do feel sorry for the guy for the position that he has put himself in. But when I start thinking about what damage he could have done it ticks me off.

I am sure that they will delay taking blood and do everything they can to get him a better case. That also makes me mad.

 

[lrahm]

I don't think that they will "fudge" on this one, too muh at stake. My family knows that there is nothing I can do if they get picked up for drunk driving. It will mean my job. Officers who would let this go would be at a great risk of being called onto the carpet if they "fudged" on it.

 

[JohnP82]

Good for you!!!

 

[bluewraith]

I am sure that they will delay taking blood and do everything they can to get him a better case. That also makes me mad.

I really doubt that. PD and FD don't play nice together. Never have, and probably never will. Something about childhood.. they both wanted to be firefighters, but cops just couldn't take the heat.

 

[manygunsmike]

Good job ! I have no mercy with people who are driving drunk Im just north in Cedar Lake and this guy could have seriously hurt or killed one of my family members too.

manygunsmike

 

[LionWeight]

+1. I had a retired PO work for me a couple years ago. He told me the story about the night he pulled a firefighter over for DD. He knew the guy and they were friends so he didn't want to get him in trouble. Instead he drove him home. 3 hours later he was called to a pedestrian hit by a car and yep you guessed it, it was the firefighter walking back to his car at 4:30am. He was dead on the spot. John told me in all the years he worked as a LEO, that was the only decision he ever regretted. He also told me that after that there were no breaks for anyone. This happened in the early 80's when the mindset was quite different than what it is today. It's just too bad that he had to learn the lesson the way he did. I have also mentioned in posts that I have NO, zero, nada tolerance for anyone that drinks and drives. Kudos for taking the stand you did. Hope this guy gets the help he needs. And glad the lesson didn't come at a higher price.

And don't get me wrong. I enjoy a good whiskey when I can. I just don't drive when I do.

 

[mainjet]

I explained to him that it may feel very good sitting where he is right now (crashed into some trees and a fence), but it a whole lot better than if he would have killed someone or was able to leave the scene of an accident. To that he replied "I am not going to hurt any, I'm not drunk". Then I put mu flashlight on the smashed windshiled, doorframe, etc. and said "Look at that", "You jusy did that". "Did you mean to do that?". He said, "I just slipped on some ice" (dry pavement).

Thanks to those that have giveb me rep for this. I know that each of you would have done the same in that situation. It's just crazy how many things happen around my house.

 

[mainjet]

I really doubt that. PD and FD don't play nice together. Never have, and probably never will. Something about childhood.. they both wanted to be firefighters, but cops just couldn't take the heat.

hahaha - blue, you don't happen to be a fire fighter do you?

 

[shibumiseeker]

Thanks to those that have giveb me rep for this. I know that each of you would have done the same in that situation. It's just crazy how many things happen around my house.

I can tell plenty of sob stories about innocent people killed by drunks, by texters, by people falling asleep at the wheel, etc.

But when I was a newly minted EMT I worked a mother and a 5 year old who were killed instantly by a repeat drunk driver who was passing a line of traffic at high speed because he was mad at some motorcyclist and was "going to teach him a lesson." Dude walked away from a 130mph total closing speed accident (mother and child doing 55, his speed 75) with some seatbelt bruises and a couple minor cuts.

Drunk was in his mid 30s (old enough to know better), had 2 prior convictions for DUI, got sentenced to 8 years (which means 4) and got out in 2.5.

This was in 1989. That day the father and husband went to work that morning with a happy little family at home. That evening he got home to be a widower and no child. He erected a memorial on that site that is still there and I pass by a couple times a week

I have since then worked hundreds of accidents of various types, most of which I can barely remember. But that image is firmly in my mind over two decades later along with a handful of others that made equally deep impressions.

Since then I have on occasion followed obviously drunk drivers when I see them on the road either until LE got there (now that cellphones are common), or they arrived somewhere and stopped driving. I figured if they ran into someone else then I could at least render aid to their victims until advanced life support could arrive. I'd have a very hard time with the decision whether or not to render aid to the drunk. Luckily I haven't met that test yet.

 

[Taylorz71]

Thanks for holding him until the Police arrived. You likely saved some lives especially if he learns his lesson.

 

[mainjet]

Actually, let me tell you another story. First read this article
Munster man's driving record a license to kill?

The other night I was out with a couple friends for dinner and my buddy started telling me about this guy. I said "yea I know about that case". But what I did not realize is that I also knew the victim. Several years prior the victim had taken me and another friend to the Brickyard 400. he paid for the tickets and everything.

The victim in this case was a very dear friend of my two buddies (brothers) and this guy was a truck driver that hauled for them. My buddy told me that when drivers come to the yard you just try to get them loaded and get them gone because you don't want to waste much time. but with this particular driver, when they saw he coming they always went to talk with him. He always had a great story and was such a sweet guy. He was a VietNam vet and still slept in his own basement because of dreams he would have from that.

On the morning of the accident 4:30 AM he went out to get some milk. Temores was driving down the road in one direction when a detective was driving the other way and saw Temores (who all the police knew). He turned a U turn and went to catch up to him. When he did the "accident" had already occured. Temores hit the victim broad side and pushed his vehicle sideways on dry pavement for 80 feet.

The club that Temores was at was having a VIP party before there first night open. Temores was coming from that party when he killed the victim. LOOK at his driving record and look how many times he was let go by judges. Now a good man is dead because some people think that it is being a "friend" to the connected. Until they kill someone.

I sat with my fourty-eight year old buddy at dinner and listened to me tell this story as he was crying. When he walked into the resturant the story was on the news and they put his buddies face, full screen, on the TV and it broke him.

I'm not drunk
I slid on a patch of ice
I am on medication
I cannot go to Jail
Please let me go
I don't have insurance
I dont have the money for this
I can't have the police here

These are all things that the fire fighter said to me while I was holding him. Interestingly enough when I said to him your lucky you didn't hit a car or hurt someone. He replied, "I have insurance". (Me) But wait - you just told me you don't have insurance, now you do? (FF)"I don't have medical insurance". (Me) Your not going anywhere... You think I am going to let you go so that you can go down the street and kill someone?

I think back to last night and think that if he would have given me his keys and just cooperated, I would have treated him better and I would have started cleaning his wounds. But as it stood, he had to sit there restrained, dripping blood and had to actually be man handled a couple times to stop him from restarting the car.

At one point he reached up when it was almost over and said, "I am going to shut these lights off" (head lights). I guess he was worried that when the car gets rebuilt from the accident that maybe the battery would be dead.

A cop actually saw him also and thought about pulling him over but didn't probably because of the FF plates. Minutes later he answers the radio call for the accident. Sounds a little like the Temores case where the connected get the brake until finally one day someones life is ended at the hands of the protected.

 

[jetmechG550]

I saw a patch on his shirt and hat and the smell of Vodka and I thought you were going to say the patch on his chest said Broussard

 

[churchmouse]

As a teenager we had the local LEO pour our beer out more than once. He was the beat cop in the area and knew everyone by name. Yes he knew mine real well. When he got us the second time there was some physical adjustments involved and we were escorted home and instructed to stay put. I did as told. Had a time explaining the black eye to my mother but that was all part of growing up then. I have never received a DUI but probably deserved one on several occasions. Lucky enough and no accidents. If I consume now my wife drives. She is not a drinker. I am at the head of the line in teaching kids not to operate under the influence. To many distractions, to many other cars and to many of those cars are piloted by non-driving idiots when straight let alone drunk. Different times.