The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Just got back from a call......
...and I have to say I'm a bit upset about the outcome. Call came in over the pager, "single vehicle mva w/ possible entrapment". It's not far from my home, so I'm first on scene. I see a half-ton on it's side in the ditch, music still playing on the radio, lights still on blah blah blah. Once I get closer, I find the guy squating and leaning against the undercarriage of the truck talking to his buddy on a cell phone. Wants him to go pick him up. I shine a light to see the way down and quickly scan him. No worse for wear; couple cuts and bleeding and complaining of shoulder pain. I get to him and he's reeking (sp?) of alcohol. I asked if he was the only one in the truck. He said his buddy was driving and ran way.After a few minutes of listening to him ramble while i check him and the truck over, more help arrives. I requested the TIC to look for traces on both seats.
Guess what....nothing. Just a small trace on the driver's seat. He was there for a while. Checks of the area produced only one set of footprints, and they led to where he was resting. LEO did their thing and found no witnesses to verify any details. After chatting with the LEO, they told me he will likely walk away scott free. The driver was more concerned with his buddy coming to pick him up than he was of the "other driver".
Also didn't want the police to show up. I said my piece about the thought of him walking away. The officer and paramedic were talking and agreed to give the guy the roughest ride possible. Oh, turns out he broke his shoulder.
I just had to vent this, it's very upsetting that the law will protect this guy and possible enabling him to do it again and maybe actually kill someone next time.
Has anyone else had this experience? Is there something that could have been done?
Sry, I'm just mad and there's nobody else around right now at this hour.
Guess what....nothing. Just a small trace on the driver's seat. He was there for a while. Checks of the area produced only one set of footprints, and they led to where he was resting. LEO did their thing and found no witnesses to verify any details. After chatting with the LEO, they told me he will likely walk away scott free. The driver was more concerned with his buddy coming to pick him up than he was of the "other driver".
Also didn't want the police to show up. I said my piece about the thought of him walking away. The officer and paramedic were talking and agreed to give the guy the roughest ride possible. Oh, turns out he broke his shoulder.
I just had to vent this, it's very upsetting that the law will protect this guy and possible enabling him to do it again and maybe actually kill someone next time.
Has anyone else had this experience? Is there something that could have been done?
Sry, I'm just mad and there's nobody else around right now at this hour.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Doug on
-
I'm sorry, but if LEO is letting this guy get away "scott" free, there is something terribly wrong. He wreaks of alcohol and is the only one on scene, LEO is not doing their job, imo. I have been on the scene of more than a few alcohol related MVAs over the years, some serious, some minor, as this one you just described, and have never seen or heard of anything like this. Even at the minor MVAs, such as this one, the person was charged in some formal way.
-
Permalink Reply by Oldman on
-
Welcome to the real world. It's not law enforcements fault.
I can't talk for all states, but Texas and in several others, unless there is a witness who will testify in court that a subject was behind the wheel, then that subject cannot be charged with anything other than public intox.
We have many incidents here at O drunk thirty, single vehicle, patient sitting on the passengers seat. The vehicle is registered to him or her, the insurance is in his or her name. It is obvious that the patient was the only occupant. Since they are not behind the wheel, the DA will not take a DWI charge. Even if they did, the person would walk because they cannot be identified as the driver.
-
Permalink Reply by Station10Capt106 on
-
Sucks when they get away with stuff like this. But I did want to complement you on your use of the TIC to verify his story. Sometimes we forget to use all the tools available to us.
-
Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on
-
Derek I'm hearing you brother, but it's like the others have mention, unless someone witnessed him in the drivers seat, law enforcement usually doesn't have a case. It's frustrating to us, because of what we witness time and time again out there!
As Capt.106 mentioned, great use of the TIC.
-
Permalink Reply by Derek R. on
-
Oh, hey guys, don't get me wrong, I am not at all blaming LEO. They can only do what the law allows them to do. The LEO didn't like the idea either, but nothing he could do. He did mention puplic intox which results in a small fine, though. The lady who called 911 was an older lady and only saw the truck go off the road. She was too nervous to go check it out, understandably so. She was unable to see the scene after that. Also, no one could verify that he was drunk before the crash and not after "to calm the nerves". That's what defence lawyers will go with.
Like I said guys, I just needed to vent. I just hope there are no more victims involved next time he does it.
Thanks for the support.
Oh, and S10Capt.106. We use the TIC at every fire and most mva's. Not only does it tell us if there are more people involved, it also helps the LEO by showing skid marks on the pavement which tells them either where they left the road, or if brakes were applied.
Keep safe all, and have fun.
-
Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
-
You want to get pissed? We had a wreck at "0 drunk thirty" a few years ago; found a young female behind the wheel of a car that went into a tree and came out second best. She was hysterical (and under the influence) so she was treated to an ambulance ride, a sheaf of papers from the LEO and no doubt other legal problems.
We found out later that her "boyfriend" was behind the wheel, drunk when HE crashed it. He made her get behind the wheel, then waited in the woods until everyone had left the scene. Then the cell phone call, free ride home and probable bragging how he escaped getting another DWI.
These people are real professionals when it comes to eluding the legal consequences of their actions.
If we had had the TIC on the rescue pumper we could have scanned the car and the surrounding area for any "extras" hiding out nearby. Needless to say we have the first-out pump respond with the TIC on night crashes so we can prevent this from happening again.
-
-
lol...now that's funny. The things people say in situation like that.
Heheh....fell in a pond. That's classic.
No, this guy wasn't running nowhere. He could barely stand let alone crawl up a 15Ft ditch. He couldn't walk the ditch as there were trees on both sides of him. (he found the pocket). He couldn't go through the field behind him because he was scared sh--less of the horses in there. They were a little worked up over the event.
-
-
Damn, Joe. My degenerate was not as bad as yours. I can't imagine running and letting his GF take the crap. And yes, the TIC is very useful in these situations. And so true, you can't make this up. Some people are genuinely messed up.
-
Permalink Reply by larry jenkins on
-
Several years ago during a heavy snow I ran an accident on a back road that was very slick. The accident was blocking the road so I was assigned to turn the traffic around to take another route. A vehicle came up on me at a high rate of speed and I had to jump into a ditch to keep from being hit. I went over to the car and the driver was very drunk. He decided that he was going to leave and I reached in and took his keys. A police officer came over and expected him to lock the guy up for driving under the influence. I went back to directing traffic. I saw the cop a few minutes later and asked where the driver was? He told me the guy lived a couple of houses down and he let him walk home. I asked him why he didn't lock him up and he stated because I took the keys away that he could not prove that the guy was driving. I told him I would be willing to go to court if needed but he didn't want to bother. I was pissed that I almost was hit and the cop was too lazy to do his job.
-
Permalink Reply by Reg Mathis on
-
Damn. I'm beginning to think we need to address two additional issues. I think we need a "Space Heater License", and I think that any car sold south of Kentucky should have a feature that disables it's operation in the presence of snow or ice...
If they ain't burning down their trailers, they're rolling their camaros over in ditches!!!
TCSS
Reg
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
