Alan C. Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 Sober woman arrested for DUI after being hit by police car Accused of a cover-up, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and four of his deputies are named as co-defendants in a federal civil rights lawsuit — and it all started with a FOX6 investigation that garnered national attention. A sober driver was arrested for drunk driving in February of 2013 — and she’s still fighting back.When a Sheriff’s deputy T-boned her car last year, Tanya Weyker suffered more than a broken neck. She suffered the indignity of a false arrest for driving while intoxicated.Now, she has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.. . .The lawsuit comes two months after a FOX6 investigation showed Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph Quiles T-boned Weyker’s Toyota Camry and then lied about who caused the crash.Weyker admitted to having a few sips of a friend’s drink that night — and nothing more.Her injuries were too severe to perform field sobriety tests.Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Griffin arrested Weyker anyway — and cited her for driving drunk, even though blood tests would later prove Weyker had no alcohol or drugs in her system.“I explained to him my eyes were red and glassy because I was crying,” Weyker told FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn.Erickson says his client was treated like a criminal as she laid in a hospital bed in pain.“Had to ask for permission to use the wash room in front of a deputy who was keeping watch on her,” Erickson said.Video from an airport surveillance camera eventually proved that Deputy Quiles never stopped before turning onto Howell Avenue — as he claimed in his report.The Sheriff’s Office knew about the video two days after the crash, but the drunk driving case continued for 10 months before a prosecutor finally decided to file formal charges.“A video that exonerated Ms. Weyker was sat on for months and months until the good work of FOX 6,” Erickson said.. . .“She, all her life, thought that law enforcement was here to serve and protect and to tell the truth and be on the side of good and go after the bad guys. She never expected that the bad guy would, in fact, be law enforcement,” Erickson said.
nathanm Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 So what if she was intoxicated? She wasn't the one who blew a stop sign and slammed into another car. Oh boy, glassy eyes and slurred speech…surely that has NOTHING to do with being hit by a car and slamming into a tree, breaking her neck in four places! Well, good on the Sheriff for at least TRYING to fire Jospeh Quiles. So much for that, overruled by committee.
fractional slacker Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 This drunk driving hysteria/brainwashing has to end. It is pure propaganda. If you crash and are at fault, then drinking should be factored in to your punishment. But this neo-prohibition pre-crime police state movement where you are guilty for merely combining two actions -driving and having alcohol- is more statist insanity.
st434u Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 The crazier part is that if you actually try to do the responsible thing if you're driving and have a bit of a buzz, and drive more slowly to give yourself (and others) more reaction time, the cops will notice that you are driving too slowly and bust you for drunk driving. There's even been cases where people are arrested for drunk driving, due to being found sleeping in their car after deciding that they were too drunk to drive. The bulk of the problem with drunk driving is not drunk driving per se, it is that many people do reckless things when they are drunk (and many get drunk in order to do reckless things). So they drive recklessly and then the slower reactions just pile on top of that. It would be interesting to see what -if any- limitations are placed by truly private roads under a private law environment regarding DUI, speed limits, etc. There is a good chance that we don't really need any of these, just like there is a good chance that traffic lights, and in particular traffic signs do more harm than good. As a side point, I think a substantial part of the deaths caused by car accidents are actually a case of suicide or murder/suicide (or just murder) and not an accident per se. I think the mechanics are similar to how many drug addicts will commit suicide by overdose. It is a way to commit suicide and make it look like an accident.
Magnus Posted August 19, 2014 Posted August 19, 2014 This drunk driving hysteria/brainwashing has to end. It is pure propaganda. If you crash and are at fault, then drinking should be factored in to your punishment. But this neo-prohibition pre-crime police state movement where you are guilty for merely combining two actions -driving and having alcohol- is more statist insanity. What should end is the government-designed, government-managed road system, which is the location of 100 deaths per day. Which few seem to even notice. If the soft-serve machines at McDonald's kept exploding and killing people, everyone would say that McDonald's is liable for setting up the dangerous condition, as the premises owner. But 35,000 people die every year on the State's roads, which they own, design and control, and almost no one bats an eye.
J. D. Stembal Posted August 22, 2014 Posted August 22, 2014 I know a girl who got hit by a cop car running a light. She was found to be at fault for not yielding to an emergency vehicle. She wasn't arrested as far as I know, but a ticket and hike in insurance rates are a foregone conclusion. The moral of the story is that police incidents are usually not found to be the fault of the police.
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