Injustice Files -- More Nebraska Carnage Coverage

Looks like a Nebraska Vehicular Murdereress is (mostly) going to get off on a technicality even though she quite clearly killed an off-duty deputy riding his motorcycle.

Woman agrees to plea deal in deputy's death

Monday, November 12, 2007 9:44 AM CST
PAPILLION, Neb. - An error in the handling of blood evidence will let a Papillion woman escape drunken-driving charges in an accident that killed an off-duty sheriff's deputy.

The woman, 27-year-old Heather Henning, had been charged with felony motor vehicle homicide by drunken driving and a misdemeanor DUI charge. She faced up to 20 years in prison and the possible loss of her driver's license.

Instead, Henning last week agreed to felony motor vehicle homicide by reckless driving and misdemeanor reckless driving. She now faces up to five years in prison on the homicide charge, 90 days for reckless driving.

Henning was arrested the night of May 13.

Authorities say the off-duty Douglas County deputy, Shad Nicks, 36, of Omaha, was riding his motorcycle on U.S. Highway 6 near Gretna when he was struck nearly head-on by Henning's Oldsmobile.

Nicks died at a hospital. Henning was treated for minor injuries, then arrested.

Last week lawyers learned that a blood sample taken from Henning was improperly marked. Prosecutors said the Nebraska State Patrol trooper who arrested Henning put only her name on the blood tube, but not the date or his initials.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said because of that failure, the blood evidence could not be admitted at trial. It had tested out at more than twice the legal limit.

That's stretching it a bit much for me.

License to Murder?

Well, not that the cagers needed any reason to feel justified to drive aggressively near motorcycles, but the Daily Astorian gave them a little more.

Troy Costales, administrator of ODOT'S Traffic Safety Division, said there are about three motorcycle fatalities in rural Oregon for every one in an urban setting. The No. 1 cause, he said, was excessive speed going into corners.

"First and foremost, it is riders killing themselves," he said.

Cute. And to think you Oregonites pay this asshat's salary.

Perhaps its because ODOT considers everything outside of Portland and Salem to be rural? Unlike Washington, there's a whole hell of a lot more of Oregon than just the urban northwest corner of the state.

Injustice Files -- November 13, 2007 Early Coverage

A very good reminder to us all about the motivations of such irresponsible scumbags as given by the Austin PD officer investigating the Garder and Birdow hit & run vehicular-murder, from KVUE.com:

Officer Joe Munoz says there are 3-main reasons why drivers leave the scene of a fatal crash.

"One they don't have insurance. Two, they get scared because either that they're here illegally or they've been drinking or three, many times a disturbance starts up at the scene and they don't want anything to do with it and they leave" says Munoz.
The cases of Garner and Birdow are just two of several unsolved hit and run fatalities from 2007.

And a recap of some other Austin area hit & run murders this year.

In August Tracy Lee Hampton, a mother of three was killed as she was crossing highway 620. Detectives never found the Cadillac Escalade or Yukon Denali they think is responsible.

Last month, 16-year old John Paul Rodriguez was killed as he was walking on the shoulder of FM 812. No one has come forward claiming responsibility for his death.

This story comes in from Greenville, SC:

SUV strikes man riding motorcycle

(The Daily Reflector--Tuesday, November 13, 2007)

A motorcyclist was hospitalized and another man faces felony charges following a Sunday wreck, according to reports filed with the Greenville Police Department.

Plymouth resident Matthew Smith was driving his Chevrolet Blazer on 10th Street just after 6:30 p.m. when he turned left onto River Bluff Drive, failing to yield the right-of-way to a motorcycle, the investigation revealed.

Give the rest of the story a read too. Looks like another errant ijit tagged an off-duty officer and made a run for it, leaving the wronged party to die in the ditch.

And this one from Tulsa, Oklahoma is just abominable in its ability to induce disgust:

[KJRH] 2 News has learned the identity of the fifth victim in Friday night's tragic hit-and-accident.

Nellie Kelly, spokeswoman for the Tulsa area chapter of the American Red Cross, confirms that Anita Foote died in the incident outside the Backyard Bar near 12th Street and South Memorial Avenue.

The suspect in the case, Kimberly Graham, 37, has reportedly told police that she was behind the wheel five people were struck and killed in the street about 11:00 p.m. Friday.

Police say a Broken Arrow teacher, De Anna Coatney, 42, had dumped her motorcycle outside the bar and that others had come over to help her.

That's when a white truck came around the corner and hit all five.

This is amazing, and a true example of "fucking up, by the numbers". When are people going to learn that driving a car involves some responsibility? Kill 5 people in the middle of the street in front of a busy bar and then make a run for it?

Wow. Words fail.

Memorial for Anthony Angstadt

This is what I like to see. Good coming from tragedy. A reminder of a bright light extinguished, courtesy of AZCentral.com.

Anthony Angstadt, a victim of a recent hit-and-run motorcycle accident in Surprise, was known by friends and family as a free spirit and for tales of his motorcycle excursions to California to visit the Pacific Ocean.

Angstadt, 19, of Surprise, was riding his motorcycle home after getting off a shift working as a security guard last week, said his mother, Lisa Angstadt. While stopped at a light on Grand Avenue and Bell Road, Angstadt was struck by a car from behind about 11:25 p.m.,according to police. Witnesses said a man fled, but the Surprise Police Department was able to track down the man and arrest him Tuesday night after investigators found the vehicle four miles west of the accident.

Surprise police arrested Jeffery Todd Jordan, who was booked into jail on charges of vehicular manslaughter, said police spokesman Randy Rody.

Of course, I hope the little drug-dealing cretin that killed Anthony rots in Hell.

Injustice Files -- November 12, 2007

This is getting to be a rather common occurrence of late.

This one from Austin, Texas: (From KEYE-TV)

Two people died after their motorcycle was struck by a car at the intersection of Airport Blvd. and Gunter St. early Sunday morning.

Austin police say Herdes Lee Garner and LaTanya Birdow, both 35, were not wearing helmets.

The couple was traveling northbound on Airport Blvd. when police say a southbound Lexus collided with them as it turned north on Gunter St.

The driver of the vehicle did not stop at the scene.

Granted, I still think not wearing the helmet is a bad idea, but there's not all that much a helmet will do when you're hit by a 3,600lb slightly-guided missile car.

And this one from North Hollywood, Cal., courtesy of KNBC.com:

LOS ANGELES -- Authorities are looking for the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed a motorcyclist in North Hollywood.

Kenneth Russell, 27, of Arleta, was riding a motorcycle at about midnight Sunday on Lankershim Boulevard, north of Saticoy Street, when the driver of a Jeep made an unexpected U-turn in the middle of the block.

Russell tried to lay down his motorcycle to avoid the collision but could not, and the driver of the Jeep kept going after the crash.

Aside from the stupidity of trying to "lay it down", assuming that's not simply ad-libbed by the reporters who were obviously not on-scene, this is another typical stupid cager trick. I see to read about this particular stunt about one per week. Some dipshit cager realizes he missed his turn and just ships his vehicle around in the middle of the street regardless of what other traffic is doing.

Of course, motorcyclists usually end up paying the price for this particular stunt.

And another rear-ender, thankfully this one with a happier result: (Courtesy of Northwest Florida Daily news)

Nov. 11--FORT WALTON BEACH -- A woman was severely injured Saturday night when a car hit her motorcycle and sent her airborne. It happened on her 33rd birthday. Myria Jacobs of Laurel Hill was thrown almost 40 feet, said Fort Walton Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Bullard.

The accident bottlenecked traffic at the intersection of Eglin Parkway and South Avenue just after 6 p.m. Jacobs was heading south on Eglin through the intersection when the northbound car turned left onto South in front of her.

Jacobs hit the car's windshield and flew over the vehicle before landing in the road.

Witnesses said she wasn't wearing a helmet and investigators didn't find one on the scene.

Bullard said Jacobs was still conscious when rescuers arrived.

"When I saw that, I thought even if they were wearing a helmet, it'd be bad," said Sonia Daniels, a motorist who passed the scene minutes after the wreck.

Just after 6:30 p.m., a helicopter lifted off from the parking lot of Choctawhatchee High School and carried Jacobs to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

She had suffered head injuries serious enough that doctors would give her a CT scan later, Bullard said.

"Those kinds of things can go downhill pretty quick," he said.

Fort Walton Beach police Cpl. Candy Galindo said she believed Jacobs was stable when she was taken by an ambulance to Choctaw, but she was still listed in serious condition at Sacred Heart late Saturday.

The car's driver, 74-yearold Elinor Monfils of Fort Walton Beach was cited for failure to yield, Galindo said. She suffered minor injuri es and was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center.

Typical. Damn near kill a motorcyclist and get a slap on the wrist. Although anybody with a clue knows it would never pass in God's Waiting Room Florida, there ought to be mandatory driver's license re-testing after injury accidents and fines based upon a vehicle's actual and potential kinetic energy. But that last one is a post for another time...

Foul Driving

We've got another one of those high wind & low barometric pressure systems rolling through the region today. This means it's very breezy out and branches are falling out of the trees. Since it's also fairly late in the year, it's also wet outside with wind-driven rain. Also, it's a state-observed Veteran's Day holiday today, so many businesses are closed and the roads are remarkably empty.

But, of course, as any Northwest motorcyclist know: this doesn't mean the driving is any easier to safer.

No, to the typical Northwest cager, these empty roads mean that there's no speed limits. Even extending to driving 10-15 over the limit in the rain, these people will be blasted down the wet leaf-covered roadway just feet off your back bumper. I'm not sure why they do these things, since it's not like they're going to get to work late since there are no backups in the "usual" spots.

Thankfully, today I was in the Subaru taking the kids to daycare. In just my little 40-block round-trip to daycare to drop the kids off, I saw several cars sliding through intersections. Seriously, it's just rain! It's not icy or snow or even cold, since it's quite balmy out until the cold front gets here.

Even worse, these people are driving through the residential side-streets at high speeds. They normally drive through those streets to avoid backups in the usual spots so that they can get to the freeway sections that aren't backed up. This makes sense on a regular day, but certainly not today when the main roads are empty.

Ah, but this would require mental flexibility. Something that has been evinced time and again to be beyond the capabilities of most Northwesterners.

Front Row Seats!

The local village police have been having a bit of fun lately. After nearly four years of digging our small city out of the damage wreaked by the inestimably incompetent previous mayor, it seems that we finally have finished up the extreme belt-tightening and have added some regular patrol officers to the cadre.

Indeed, they seem to have caught some young man doing something very naughty this morning while I was home nursing my wife back to health.

He roared into our culdesac in his P.O.S. blue Toyota Corolla mid-morning and the ensuing events made it very clear that he was hiding from the Po-Po. Most unfortunately for him, he was driving into a section of town that had no outlets other than back the way he came in and the fact that didn't have enough time to hide. Of course, anyone driving driving a POS like that thing and hanging out in my culdesac would've gotten a 911 call (not to mention checking to ensure I had my spare Taurus magazine handy).

He appeared to be "A Seriously Bad Boy" though, as he got cuffed in short order and sure as hell didn't pass 'Go' on his way to jail.

Of course, we've got some fairly important privacy laws and whatnot here so I couldn't film or photograph the actual fun without significant legal risk even if I'd wanted to do so. I did however get a photograph in of Mr. Bad Dude's POS Corolla being towed out what what amounts to the extension off my driveway, with "vital statistics" removed, of course.

Super Extreme DUI?

This is new and interesting. I usually don't cover stuff that happens down in Arizona due its distance and its significant lack of the first item in my blog's name. All that aside, this story is a bit interesting in its technical details about how Arizona law works.

Probe: Off-duty Phoenix officer 'extremely drunk' during accident

Brent Whiting
The Arizona Republic
An off-duty Phoenix police officer was extremely drunk when he crashed a motorcycle last month, suffering severe injuries and harming his girlfriend, another off-duty officer.

Officer Mike Rogers, a 17-year member of the Phoenix force, is believed to have had a blood-alcohol level in excess of 0.20 percent, according to a report released Thursday by Glendale police under the Arizona Public Records Law.

Investigators will recommend to prosecutors that criminal charges, including aggravated assault, be filed against Rogers resulting from the crash, said Sgt. Jim Toomey, a Glendale police spokesman.

It's good to see that Pheonix PD isn't just white-washing this one like so many local police departments have done with local deputized bad boys. The hypocrisy meter's just about pegged in this case, but I suppose it helps that this idiot crashed his bad self in somebody else's jurisdiction too.

As I've mentioned before, I really don't understand this whole thing of going and drinking damn near a case of beer and then thinking you're going to go drive a car or operate a motorcycle just fine. And, of course, the icing on the cake being that this patrol officer appears to be a DUI emphasis specialist as well.

Now for the interesting part.

Toomey, the Glendale police spokesman, said Thursday the possible aggravated assault charge will be for the harm to Gallegos in the crash.

In their report, Glendale investigators said that preliminary testing of Rogers, after his arrival at a Phoenix hospital, showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.219 to 0.269 percent.

That's significantly higher than 0.08 percent, the level set by law for being drunk in Arizona, as well as 0.15 percent, the level for extreme driving under the influence.

Under Arizona law, a reading higher than 0.20 percent falls in the category of "super extreme DUI," punishable by 45 to 180 days in jail with no possibility of a suspended sentence.

However, the consequences go up drastically, and may include a felony conviction and prison, for DUI-related crashes that involve death or injury, according to legal experts.

They're not mucking about with the penalties for DUI down there. While I think the name is ridiculously corny, I like the mandatory jail time for the "super extreme" drunks too. I've always felt that anybody getting on the road with that much booze in their bloodstream has made a decision to be willfully negligent in the risk they pose to other road users. It seems that some folks down in drive-in liquor store country agree.

Injustice Files -- A Canadian's One Way Trip to Nebraska

This one is beyond words. At least the law enforcement personnel involved stuck with this long enough for the truth to come out. Now we'll see if we and the family of Mr. Ryun see justice.

Sutherland man cited in fatal accident
by Frank Graham (North Platte Bulletin) - 11/6/2007

A 58-year-old Sutherland man was cited for false reporting Tuesday because Lincoln County Sheriff's investigators believe he lied about his role in an Oct. 4 accident that killed a Canadian motorcyclist.

Ronald L. Ryun was cited with the Class-I misdemeanor and could face a maximum of one-year imprisonment, a $1,000 fine or both if convicted. He was cited into Lincoln County Court Dec. 7.

John C. Norton, 63, of Penetang, Ontario Canada, was killed after the Kawasaki motorcycle he was riding struck a car driven by Ryun on the right rear quarter panel. The accident occurred at about 4 p.m. that day and in the 800 block of Hwy. 30.

Norton, who was wearing a helmet, was thrown from the bike and was not breathing when first responders arrived on the scene. He was later pronounced deal at Great Plains Regional Medical Center.

Ryun told investigators that he was westbound and that Norton struck him after he slowed. But after an investigation that lasted nearly a month and included an accident reconstruction by LCSO and Nebraska State Patrol investigators, they determined that Ryun was eastbound on Hwy. 30 and made a U-turn, which caused the accident.

Throw the book at him, I say. Talk about significant irresponsibility, and a reminder for us all that maturity has no relationship to age.

Get Your Bad Self Endorsed!

I've got two problems with this whole scenario.

1) Well, this one is the usual. Unobservant pick-em-up driver turning their huge land yacht into the path of oncoming motorcycle because they're bigger and they don't give a rat's ass.

2) Motorcyclist running around without an endorsement. If you ride a motorcycle, get your sorry butt into the DMV and get your endorsement.

What? Can't pass the test? Then what the hell are you doing running around on a motorcycle? This is in Oregon, and I know several Team Oregon motorcycle safety instructors (or whatever they're called), and I'm sure their classes can help just about anyone who skills are rusty.

Motorcyclist recovering from NE Bend collision

By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM

A Bend motorcyclist was hospitalized in fair condition Tuesday, one day after striking a pickup truck that turned into its path on Greenwood Avenue in northeast Bend.

Both the driver and rider were cited following the crash that tied up traffic on the busy northeast Bend thoroughfare through Monday evening's rush hour, police said.

Not Quite Indian Summer

It's a bit too cold for that, but the wondrous weather that we never really got this summer is making a brief appearance this week. I'm fortunate enough to be out on vacation this week (read: not enough seniority to take it during the holidays) and the weather's fine.

Put a hundred miles or so running on the valley highway north and east of Issaquah while taking care of errands. Had a fantastic lunch at La Fogata on Railroad Avenue in Snoqualmie. Plenty of food and very tasty.

Hit fog a few times up in the hills too and I'm kicking myself for not bringing the camera. Some pretty fantastic views to be had today with the last of the autumn colors on the trees.

Stupid Drunk Cager Pleads Guilty -- Updated

I think this one figured that he'd be pretty damn lucky not to spend 20 years in jail if he went into a jury trial.

Update:

It seems that our choir boy, Robert Cedeno, got a very little something in the way of justice served to him. He's going to be spending the next 18 months rotting in a cell in King County Regional Justice Center.


Seems our "little choir boy":

• Got so stone drunk his BAC was .31!!!!


• Got in his car.


• Drove his car far enough to slam into a Seattle PD motor officer

I mean really! How the hell can you be SO drunk that you're nearly 4 times the legal limit and still be able to walk? How can anyone with two brain cells to rub together think that he's sober enough to drive, let alone sober enough to not be arrested on the spot for driving under the influence?

The truly sad thing is that this particular choir boy is apparently going to be receiving a fairly typical DUI slap on the wrist of 18 months in the joint, even though he maimed a police officer.

Of course, you and I both know that the first thing he'll do on release is borrow somebody's car (license revocation being irrelevant) and go down to the bar and get his bad self dead drunk.

Courtesy of kgw.com:

A drunken driver who hit a King County sheriff's deputy, causing him to lose a leg, has pleaded guilty in Seattle to vehicular assault.

The King County prosecutor's office says it will ask for an 18-month prison sentence for Robert Cedeno when he is sentenced Nov. 21 in superior court.

Prosecutors say the 36-year-old Phoenix man had a blood alcohol level of .31 when he pulled out of a Kenmore tavern parking lot on July 29 and hit a motorcycle driven by Deputy Donn Potteiger (POT'-ih-jer).

The 23-year veteran has undergone several surgeries including the amputation of his right leg.

Officer Down in Hillsboro

This one's special. Some ijit cager creamed a motor patrol officer in the Portland suburbs.

I hope this moron gets the damn book thrown at them.

Officer involved crash in Sherwood, By Frank Lenzi

AM 860 KPAM, Nov 1, 2007
Vivace Voices Ltd.

A Hillsboro Police motorcycle officer has been involved in a crash in Sherwood.

At approximately 1:40 p.m., a witness called to report seeing the officer lying in the road at Southwest Pacific Highway and Northwest Meinecke Parkway. The witnesses said the officer had been hit by a vehicle.

Hillsboro Police Lt. Michael Rouches said Officer Clint Chrz was working a multi-agency traffic detail and had stopped a vehicle along Highway 99W at Northwest Meinecke Parkway in Sherwood. He had parked his motorcycle and was standing next to the vehicle he had pulled over when another vehicle hit the cycle, which in turn hit him.

Chrz was taken to the hospital via LifeFlight and was in stable condition.

“This is one of those days that make us all stop and think,� Rouches said. “We’re just happy that it looks like he’ll be okay.�

Chrz, a nine-year veteran of the Hillsboro Police Department, has been a motorcycle officer for four years.

Police were questioning the driver of the vehicle that hit the motorcycle. Rouches did not have information about any possible citations.

And it gets even better. It pains me to even have to read such blatant stupidity on the part of what is obviously another ijit cager. The poor grammer and spelling skills are all his own, as I certainly make no claims on it.

Posted by one brilliant individual in the comment section.

i feel bad for the officer. but i have witnessed this "milti agency traffic detail" before in that same area.. they put about 30 (not exagerating) motorcycle officerd on the side of th road on a 1 minle stretch of road and pull cars over for speeding. thats way too many police in one area at a givin time.

And how, exactly, does that excuse negligent driving on the part of the unobservant cager?

If indeed there are 30 motorycle patrol officers in a 1 mile span (1 every 176 feet, which I highly doubt), how in all that is sane and reasonable do you not see one of them and smash your barely-guided car into said motorcycle?

It's a car, folks. The gas pedal is on the right and should be used gently. The brake pedal's in the middle, and it stops you. Use the big round thing in front of you to keep it YOUR CAR BETWEEN THE FSCKING YELLOW AND WHITE LINES. It's just not rocket science.

I mean it. Really.