DUI News Digest

DENVER – Eight times between July 1, 2012, and July 1, 2013, someone in Colorado convicted of vehicular homicide/DUI found themselves on the fortunate end of a judge’s decision. A recent study by Colorado Legislative Council Staff found on eight occasions judges sentenced eight defendants to probation instead of jail or prison. Colorado law does not require judges to sentence those convicted of driving drunk and killing someone to time behind bars. Rep. Polly Lawrence (R-Littleton) had hoped to bring ... Read More »

DES PLAINES, Ill. (STMW) – Police say a northwest suburban man was driving under the influence of alcohol when he fatally struck a Chicago man Wednesday night in Des Plaines. Robert Grossman, 44, is charged with one count of aggravated DUI resulting in death, according to a statement from Des Plaines police. Read More »

Los Angeles (KTLA)- Qaneak Shaney Cobb was charged with two felonies — driving under the influence of a drug causing injury and possession of cocaine — the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. She appeared in Van Nuys Superior Court, entering a not guilty plea. Cobb allegedly failed to stop her Chevrolet Blazer and slammed into an unidentified 26-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department who was stopped on his motorcycle at a red light. Read More »

WASHINGTON (WJLA) – Veteran DC Fire and EMS firefighter-technician Jason Siegel worked out of Engine 13 in Southwest Washington. One aspect of his job was driving the fire truck that waits on White House grounds when the president comes and goes via Marine One. if there’s an emergency, those firefighters can quickly respond. Now Siegel is on leave after a DUI arrest. According to police, the 40 year old lost control of his SUV early Sunday morning and crashed into ... Read More »

Missoula, MT A Butte man was arrested by Missoula County sheriff’s deputies late Sunday after authorities said he drove drunk the wrong way on Interstate 90 for nearly 20 miles. John Braunreiter, 46, was stopped by deputies near the border of Missoula and Granite counties at mile marker 134, said sheriff’s department spokeswoman Paige Pavalone. He was driving eastbound in the westbound lane of travel. Braunreiter pulled over in the median of the interstate and told deputies he didn’t know ... Read More »

Atlanta, GA A man facing more than a month in jail for violating his probation now faces more time behind bars because authorities say he was drunk when he ran out of a Johns Creek courtroom and led police on a chase Tuesday morning. James Earl Johnson, 44, was given probation after a conviction on DUI and driving without a license charges last year, according to Channel 2 Action News. But he owed more than $2,000 in fines and hadn’t ... Read More »

Houston, TX – Police have identified a big-rig driver accused in a traffic crash Sunday night that a left a 48-year-old man dead in southwest Houston. Willie James Johnson, Jr., 42, is charged with intoxication manslaughter in the wreck, which happened about 10:30 p.m. in the 12200 Beechnut near Cook Road, according to the Houston Police Department. Read More »

ORLANDO, Fla. – A man was arrested in Orlando early Monday on DUI charges after, according to troopers, he struck a woman’s car and drove away. Fabian Sanchez, 21, of Orlando, was arrested in the hit-and-run crash, which happened on Lake Underhill near State Road 408. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a trooper witnessed the crash and called for help after the driver fled the scene. Read More »

Ogden, UT – Fox 13 News A bar has been fined and its liquor license suspended after they served a woman who allegedly caused another person’s death while driving under the influence of alcohol. Chelsey Raffield was charged with automobile homicide last year after allegedly causing an accident shortly after leaving Mi Tenampa early in the morning on September 1 of 2013. Police said Raffield was going 80 mph in a 30 mph zone and a had a blood alcohol content of ... Read More »

Oswego, IL – Daily Herald A limousine driver pleaded guilty Thursday to driving drunk while busing 23 high school students to their prom near Glen Ellyn. The blood alcohol content was twice the legal threshold for Richard L. Madison, 55, of Palos Heights. He was arrested May 11, 2013 after delivering a group of Oswego East High School teens to Abbington Banquets in a party bus. Madison, an admitted alcoholic, was sentenced to 60 days in jail, two years of ... Read More »