April 2010 Archives

In order to reduce the number of traffic collisions involving intoxicated drivers in the Los Angeles area, officers with the Los Angeles Police Department are planning a sobriety and driver's license checkpoint tonight in Southern L.A. Through a press release, LAPD has announced that there will be at least one checkpoint tonight --on April 30--from  8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. The DUI checkpoint will be held at West Slauson Avenue between Buckler Avenue and Edgemar Avenue.

LAPD reports that in the 77th Street Area, there have been 38 driving under the influence-related and 324 hit and run traffic collisions in just the year 2010. Because of the frequent amount of drunk driving collisions on the road, law enforcers feel the need to conduct DUI checkpoints. The checkpoints are not only supposed to catch drunk drivers, but they also have the goal of educating the Los Angeles community about using designated drivers and providing public awareness on the dangers of drinking and driving.

David Hasselhoff's ex-wife, Pamela Bach, was sentenced last week after she pleaded no contest to a DUI charge in Los Angeles Superior Court. Associated Press reports that the celebrity's sentence includes 90 days of jail that she will begin serving in May. This new Pamela Bach DUI should come as no surprise though.

This drunken driving conviction makes the woman a two-time DUI offender. Pamela Bach was arrested for drunk driving in March 2009 and was put on probation. But the woman was arrested for a driving under the influence again in November 2009, which violated her probation. In addition to her DUI charges, Pamela Bach was also charged with a misdemeanor after a hit-and-run incident in 2007, but the charge was dropped, according to New York Daily News.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge declared a mistrial on Thursday for Will Skett after a jury was deadlocked with a decision. After almost two years, the man's severe DUI case has still made little progress within the courts.

The Contra Costa Times reports that William Skett was a well-known police officer, who was assigned to the Los Angeles Police Department's elite Metropolitan Division, but later put on administrative leave. He was accused of hitting two pedestrians on June 21, 2008 while backing up in a parking lot in his Hummer vehicle while he was under the influence of alcohol. The suspect then allegedly left the scene.

A former NFL running back for the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots was arrested in Los Angeles County last Wednesday, on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs. Now it looks as though the suspect, Corey Dillon, will need a DUI attorney in Los Angeles to defend him of the charges.

The Los Angeles Times reports that officers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stopped Corey Dillon in his 2010 red Chevy Camaro on Mulholland Drive near the Ventura Freeway in Malibu to check the car's registration. Because the car was new, the man had paper license plates. However, when officers saw that the former NFL football player showed signs of intoxication, Corey Dillon was arrested for DUI.

Former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach pleaded guilty to driving under the influence earlier this month and was sentenced to 30 days' house arrest, three years' probation, $1,700 in fines and alcohol education programs. However, the Los Angeles Times reports that the Riverside Police Department mishandled the incident in which the former police chief crashed a city-owned car after a night of drinking.

When a person is suspected of DUI, Riverside police are supposed to conduct field sobriety tests, collect physical evidence, and put the person under arrest. But with the case of Russ Leach, the law enforcers allegedly decided to just drive the suspect home. This type of treatment is not supposed to be permitted under the law.

State senator Roy Ashburn, a Republican from Bakersfield, pleaded no contest to his DUI charge last week and was subsequently sentenced to 48 hours in jail and three years of probation. Roy Ashburn was also ordered to attend a class for first-time drunk driving offenders and pay $2,000 in fines, according to CBS News.

The man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence on March 3 in downtown Sacramento. His arrest was followed by a great deal of controversy because he was coming from a gay nightclub. Subsequently, Roy Ashburn came out of the closet as a gay man.

The Los Angeles Police Department will continue to crack down on drunk driving this weekend with at least one planned DUI checkpoint for Friday night. This is part of an extensive effort for more CA DUI checkpoints in the Los Angeles metro area. Through a press release, the LAPD's Central Traffic division announced that there will be a sobriety checkpoint on April 16 at Eagle Rock Boulevard, just north of Avenue 41. LAPD officers will be conducting the checkpoint from 7:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

So if you're driving through Central Los Angeles on Friday, it would be best to designate a sober driver and avoid driving drunk.  LAPD officers are reminding community members, "If we catch you driving drunk, you will be arrested."

Here's a bizarre story that will be leaving Los Angeles DUI attorneys wondering about the potential charges to follow. NBC Los Angeles reports that a 45-year-old man died while standing at the corner of Western Avenue and Pico Boulevard on Sunday after a traffic light hit him on the head. This happened after a car crash caused a street pole to topple over. The victim, who was later identified as a man named German Andrade, died at the scene of the accident.

What exactly caused the traffic signal to fall at 3:15 in the morning? The Los Angeles Police Department says that it was because of 27-year-old driver Jasen Jack, who crashed into the pole with his Dodge Caliber. He crashed into the pole while he was allegedly under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. However, the driver might not be entirely responsible for the death of the Los Angeles man that was hit by the traffic signal.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Joey Porter was arrested on suspicion of DUI in Bakersfield last month after he showed signs of impairment when being pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer. However Kern County prosecutors now say that no charges will be filed against the linebacker.

It turns out that Joey Porter and his DUI attorney have nothing to worry about. USA Today reports that based on reasonable doubt, the district attorney's office does not believe a jury would find the football player guilty of DUI charges.

Drunk driving continues to be one of California's deadliest crimes, but officials from the Los Angeles Police Department are trying to reduce the number of injuries and deaths associated with impaired driving through sobriety checkpoints. Tomorrow, law enforcers with LAPD's South Traffic Division and Crime Task Force will be conducting checkpoints in the 77th Division at the following locations.

• Western Avenue between 59th Street and Slauson Avenue, between 6:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M.
• Slauson Avenue between Western Avenue and Denker Avenue, between 7:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M.

Trevor Mark Coffman, of Laguna Niguel, has been charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter for allegedly causing a high-speed freeway crash in 2007 that killed two elderly passengers on the Santa Ana Freeway. Prosecutors say that the defendant was drunk at the time of the crash, according to the Orange County Register.

Yet the DUI defense lawyer representing Trevor Coffman argued in court that his client was not impaired at the time of the crash and that the fatal car crash was unavoidable. The attorney says that the man crashed into a disabled vehicle in the carpool lane just before midnight. The disabled vehicle reportedly did not have any emergency signal lights flashing when it was pulled over.

Nick Adenhart pitched an impressive six scoreless innings for the Anaheim Angels on April 9, 2009 during his first major league game. Yet it's too bad that the man died just hours after this triumph when an alleged drunk driver named Andrew Thomas Gallo hit his vehicle in Fullerton. Police say that Andrew Gallo had a blood-alcohol level that was almost three times the legal limit after the crash. In addition to the death of the Angeles baseball player, The Orange County Register reports that Frances Stewart, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25, were also killed in the crash.

A year after Nick Adenhart's death, Orange County and Los Angeles DUI defense lawyers are still trying to figure out the logistics of Andrew Gallo's trial. The man has been charged with three counts of second-degree murder, driving under the influence of alcohol, hit-and-run, and driving with a suspended license because of a prior DUI conviction. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Drunk driving continues to be one of America's deadliest crimes, but police officers all over Los Angeles County are now conducting checkpoints each weekend to curb DUI collisions. Last week, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies from the Santa Clarita station conducted a DUI checkpoint on Lyons Avenue near Avenida Dorena. Yet KHTS News reports that this particular checkpoint only yielded three DUI arrests, of the 616 vehicles that were screened.

In addition to the three DUI arrests, deputies from the Santa Clarita station issued seven citations and towed six vehicles. Yet many Los Angeles DUI attorneys and law enforcers might question whether this sobriety checkpoint was actually a success. The checkpoint on March 26 lasted for eight hours, from 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m, and during those eight hours only three people were even suspected of being drunk.

David Rainey, also known as Puck from MTV's "The Real World" was arrested in San Diego after a drunk-driving related accident, according to KTLA News.

The reality star was allegedly drunk last week when his car veered off Route 79 in San Diego and rolled down an embankment. And because his 8-year-old son was in the car with him, he'll also be facing a child endangerment charge.