Results tagged “dui”

Exciting night for the Seattle Police Department, as they responded to a DUI collision involving two parked cars at the 6200 block of Seaview Avenue N. The believed-to-be-intoxicated suspects, a 17-year-old male driver and a 20-year-old male passenger, were armed and running (slowly) in circles. Witnesses spotted the driver hiding an AK-47 in the bushes shortly before the two suspects were arrested. Officers hit the weapons jackpot upon finding the rifle loaded with a 30 round "banana" clip, two baseball bats, and an illegal "butterfly" knife on the passenger. The SPD also reported a red bandanna--gang colors!--found in the back of the black sedan. Both were booked on various DUI and weapons charges.

She's said all along she wasn't drunk that night she was pulled over, but now the court has officially decided to back her up on that claim: Venus Velasquez, former City Council candidate, was declared not guilty of charges of drunken driving today by a local jury. It's too late to do any good in her campaign against Bruce Harrell, but at least she won't be tortured further with a public record smear on her good name.

This weekend, Mount Vernon police pulled over and arrested a Skagit Valley man for his 14th DUI. Our only question--why does this guy still have his license? We're not big on removing judicial discretion from sentencing, but it would seem to this Seattlest that the DUI is one conviction where "three strikes and you're out" should apply. Three DUIs, and say goodbye to your license. Instead, since this is the man's fourth DUI arrest in under ten years, he can be charged with a felony; this seems only to punish him, rather than to protect other drivers he may come into crashing contact with when drunk behind the wheel next time around.

John Calkins, the police chief of Pacific, Wash., was arrested last night on suspicion of driving under the influence. Calkins was pulled over in Bonney Lake after a citizen called 911 to report a possible drunk driver. The chief claimed he couldn't take a roadside breathalyzer test because of a "medical condition involving his throat." We are familiar with his condition, we believe its scientific name is bullshit. To us, this sounds distinctly like an excuse only a fellow cop could get away with after being pulled over soused. Thin blue line, indeed.

Seahawks Pro-Bowl MLB Lofa Tatupu pled guilty today to a May 10 DUI charge and was sentenced to one day in jail by Kirkland Municipal Court Judge Michael Lambo. Tatupu was charged after speeding and driving erratically in a Hyundai after a late night on the Kirkland night club circuit. Two hours after his arrest, Tatupu's blood alcohol level tested at 0.155 and 0.158, nearly twice the legal limit. Tatupu will also pay $1,255 in fines. At $7 million in annual salary, the fine is the equivalent of 10.2 seconds of on-field play for Tatupu, or a kick-off with a decent run-back. As a result of the verdict, Tatupu also faces NFL and team sanctions.

This is a new one. Instead of fleeing arrest, a Moses Lake man crashed his car into a police parking lot gate to guarantee his arrest would happen. Officers inside the station heard the impact of the crash and responded immediately (very easy to do when it involves getting up and walking outside).

Lofa Tatupu, the Seahawks three-time Pro-Bowl linebacker, was arrested this weekend in Kirkland for driving under the influence. Tatupu was pulled over for speeding and changing lanes without signaling. The officer on the scene reported that Tatupu smelled of alcohol though he claimed he hadn't been drinking.

A Seabeck, Wash., man was arrested twice in one day for Driving Under the Influence. The 48-year-old man was pulled over twice by State Troopers on Friday for driving while intoxicated. The man was arrested once Friday morning with a blood-alcohol level of five times the legal limit. After being released, he must have gotten right back to drinking, because he was arrested that same night with a blood-alcohol level of four times the legal limit.

Is Washington State thinking of creating a modern day scarlet letter? Republican State Senator Mike Carrell has authored a bill that would require a person convicted of a DUI to have special fluorescent yellow license plates. If passed, the law would require anyone convicted of a DUI to have the plates for one year on both the front and back plates of their vehicles. Within that year, if a driver convicted of a DUI is pulled over for any reason and they do not have the required fluorescent plates, they could be charged with an extra misdemeanor.

City Council candidate Venus Velazquez was charged with a DUI the other night, which is odd because Bruce Harell was the athlete [slide-whistle], and with that we start our Seattlest General Election Civic Election Coverage 2007.

City Council candidate Venus Velázquez was arrested for a DUI last night which can't be good for her campaign for Peter Steinbrueck's seat. Apparently, she had "two drinks with her meal" and then hung around for a while to ensure she wasn't impaired. If that's what really happened, bummer. It sounds like she made a better effort than the guys we see "sobering up" at the end of the night by switching to light beer for last call. "No more shots for me...I'm driving. Two Pabsts, please." Needless to say, you don't see those guys appearing in your voter's guide too often. Even if it was two drinks and a cooling off period - a cop saw fit to pull her over, administer the field tests and take her in.

Londonist are starting to think their city is getting just a little bit too expensive, when even Christian Slater can't afford to go out there. And there's no escaping, as local singer Lily Allen discovered when she was barred entry to the US. The British mapping agency caused further bad karma, by blocking a 3-D representation of London in Google Earth. But the smiles returned to Londonist's faces as they interviewed Baroness von Reichardt, who has completely covered her house in mosaic tiles.

In an article headlined "Local track doomed by local ignorance" on the front page of Sunday's sports section Jerry Brewer argues that the rubes in Seattle wouldn't know a good opportunity if it drove over them at 150mph. Actually, he points to a handful of distinct examples of our local ignorance. He points to comments by Frank Chopp in which the House Speaker from Seattle cites a non-existent DUI charge against Richard Petty and he points to comments by Larry Seaquist, D of Gig Harbor, in which Seaquist disparages all of NASCAR fandom and likely 80% of the country by stating, "These are not the kind of people you would want living next door to you. They'd be the ones with the junky cars in the front yard and would try to slip around the law." Brewer's right on this count--these statements are terrible.

--Sonics Central on the stories about the new owners and their anti-gay-marriage contributions: "Seattle should be f*cking ashamed of itself."

With NASCAR putting a full throttle charge, or whatever NASCAR fans say, over a proposed track in Kitsap County, our own elected officials are being as classless as the fans they claim will flock to the track.

This is going to be a hard year for Republicans to win tight races, whether or not they revealed all of the bad things that they have done.

-Mill Creek police have released a sketch of a man wanted in connection with a sexual assualt there and eww.