Eideard

Two of Belniak’s victims – Denise and Gerard Bassi, dead

David Belniak had drugs in his system and never braked when he slammed into the back of a family’s car stopped at a red light on Christmas Day 2007. Three people died.

In August, Belniak pleaded guilty to three counts of DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He never said a word in court, not even when the victims’ children begged him for an apology…

Now, he’s saying he’s not responsible for the crash. And he wants to be paid for his suffering…

The suit asks for the victims’ relatives to pay Belniak, 38, for his “pain and suffering … mental anguish … loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life” and the medical bills he got as a result of a crash he pleaded guilty to causing…

Georgette DeFranco lost her mother, Linda McWilliams, 66; her sister, Denise Bassi, 50, and her brother-in-law, Gerard Bassi, 51, in the crash. DeFranco’s stepfather, Ray McWilliams, was injured but survived. Family members said he never fully recovered and he died last March at age 68…

The crash happened about 2:20 p.m. Dec. 25, 2007…Authorities said Belniak was driving between 75 and 85 mph when his pickup smashed into the back of McWilliams’ Chevrolet Tahoe. The SUV crumpled. Gerard Bassi died at the scene. Denise Bassi died in surgery that day. Linda McWilliams was taken off life support a week later.

Authorities said Belniak had alcohol, Xanax and evidence of cocaine in his system.

Belniak had a history of driving infractions. He’d faced DUI charges twice before. One of those times, in 2003, New Port Richey police searching his Ford Mustang found a gallon of the intoxicant GHB, commonly known as the “date rape” drug. Belniak served 17 months in prison after pleading no contest to trafficking the drug…

Maureen M. Deskins, the Tampa attorney representing the estate of Linda and Ray McWilliams, said the lawsuit is “gut-wrenching” and the relatives are “stunned.”

“It seems there is no end to the pain David Belniak is willing to inflict on this family,” Deskins said.

One more case added to the sum of frivolous litigation that has become the American standard for lawyers. My friends who practice that craft with justice and honor are as embarrassed as our whole nation must be – especially by the lack of concern that results from drunk driving convictions.

After enjoying a few drinks, some people go dancing. Others order food. And for some, it’s time to shop online.

“I have my account linked to my phone, so it’s really easy,” said Tiffany Whitten, of Dayton, Ohio, whose most recent tipsy purchase made on her smartphone — a phone cover — arrived from Amazon much to her surprise. “I was drunk and I bought it, and I forgot about it, and it showed up in the mail, and I was really excited.”

Shopping under the influence has long benefited high-end specialty retailers — witness the wine-and-cheese parties that are a staple of galleries and boutiques. Now the popularity of Internet sales has opened alcohol-induced purchases to the masses, including people like Ms. Whitten, who works in shipping and receiving and spent just $5 on the cat-shaped phone cover…

Online retailers, of course, can never be sure whether customers are inebriated when they tap the “checkout” icon. One comparison-shopping site, Kelkoo, said almost half the people it surveyed in Britain, where it is based, had shopped online after drinking.

But while reliable data is hard to come by, retailers say they have their suspicions based on anecdotal evidence and traffic patterns on their Web sites — and some are adjusting their promotions accordingly.

Read the rest of this entry »

A New York man wearing a T-shirt declaring “I’m a drunk” is facing DWI charges after a collision with a police car.

Suffolk County police arrested 23-year-old Kevin Daly of Coram. They say he crashed into an officer’s vehicle at about 1:45 a.m. Thursday. The officer was treated for minor injuries.

Daly, who is unemployed, was wearing the T-shirt in a mug shot provided by police. It reads: “I’m not an alcoholic / I’m a drunk / Alcoholics go to meetings.”

He was ordered held on $10,000 bail at his arraignment and was issued several traffic summonses. He was represented by an attorney from Legal Aid, which has a policy of not commenting on pending cases.

Throw away the key. He’s a drunk and an idiot. Double the menace to the public.

A 22-year-old man is accused of knocking on the door of the police chief of a northwestern Pennsylvania town and exposing himself…

Corry Police Chief Rich Shopene said Brody Eugene Hall knocked on his door shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday and exposed his genitals when Shopene opened the door.

“I saw you had Halloween decorations up,” said Shopene, quoting Hall. “I’m here to scare your children…”

Hall is charged with public drunkenness, harassment and other related counts, authorities said.

Hall was released from Erie County Jail on Tuesday and is expected to make his first court appearance on November 15, according to spokesman Steve Delinski.

Perhaps the court will ask him to recreate the incident. Just for giggles.

Laura Chavez did not pass go. She did not collect $200.

Instead, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies took the 60-year-old directly to jail after they say she repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend Wednesday after arguing during a game of Monopoly.

Police responded to a stabbing call at 1:21 a.m. Wednesday in the Casa Villita Apartments…Deputy Kurt Whyte arrived at the apartment where he says he found the 48-year-old male stabbing victim, “bleeding heavily from his head and right wrist area.”

Chavez, who police say admitted stabbing the man with a kitchen knife, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery on a household member with a deadly weapon, battery upon a peace officer, assault upon a peace officer and resisting or evading a police officer…Her boyfriend, meanwhile, remained hospitalized late Wednesday but was in stable condition, according to Lt. Adan Mendoza.

Police say both Chavez and her boyfriend appeared to be intoxicated.

According to the statement of probable cause filed for Chavez’s arrest drafted by Detective Andrew Quintana, Chavez and her boyfriend were playing a late Tuesday night game of Monopoly with her 10-year-old grandson. The young boy told police the couple began fighting because his grandma thought her boyfriend was cheating at the classic Parker Brothers game…

Investigators say they were not aware of past domestic violence calls regarding the couple, but jail records show Chavez has been booked into the Santa Fe County jail nine times since June 2006, many of which were related to violations of probation and the conditions of her release from a 2009 felony drug possession case in which she eventually received a conditional discharge.

Every aspect of life in a banana republic culture can be exciting. Even a board game can turn into an assault.

Rental RV ready to tow away from the courthouse
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

It’s one thing for tipsy teenagers to break into a county courthouse and clown around with a judge’s robe and gavel. If you’re a foreign national suspected of such behavior, you’ll get a whole lot more attention.

Five young men learned that Wednesday in San Antonio, Texas, after the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security joined an investigation that will determine whether the incident was an escapade or part of a terrorism plot.

So far, Bexar County officials said Wednesday afternoon, it appears to be a prank. “I think probably, if their mother found out, she wouldn’t approve,” Sheriff Amadeo Ortiz said.

Ortiz said the five men who had reportedly been traveling in an RV are from France. Luis Antu, a spokesman for the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, said the men, in their 20s, claimed to be French Moroccan…

Authorities say two of the men climbed a fire escape and entered through a fourth-floor window shortly before 1:30 a.m. A video image released by authorities shows two people walking or running down a hallway while wearing sombreros.

Alarms sounded. Police quickly had the place surrounded. But they bided their time during the 30-minute incident, authorities said…The pair exited the courthouse and, along with three others outside, including one sitting in an RV, were arrested…

According to the security surveillance tape, the two suspects “were playing with a judge’s gavel and robes,” the spokesman said. “They went into one of the libraries and put on sombreros and were walking around the halls…”

As a precaution, a bomb-sniffing dog was brought to the site and searched the facility.

There’s a distinct possibility they were plastered. Beer cans were found in their rental RV – and in the courtroom. It’s presumed the beer cans were theirs.

Horse and trap driver John Mulvenna told police his horse Fred went through a red light because he was colour blind. But John Mulvenna’s explanation did not fool officers and he ended up in court for being drunk in charge of a horse and carriage…

Mulvenna, who was represented at Barnsley Magistrates Court by solicitor John Dobbin, was arrested in the town centre on his way home.

The horse and trap had earlier been seen going the wrong way up a one-way street.

Prosecutor Jayne Ormrod said Mulvenna had been drinking and the horse was rearing up. The driver used a whip to bring the animal under control and Fred seemed distressed.

Mrs Ormrod said: “The defendant was struggling to control the horse and trap. he was shouting and had slurred speech. “His eyes were red and watery and he smelt of drink. He was also staggering around.

“When asked why the horse and carriage had gone through the traffic lights he said the horse was colour blind.”

The incident lasted ten or 15 minutes. Mulvenna told officers he was “merry” but not drunk.

I worry more about the horse than the drunk. They should take away his whip.

A suspected drunken driver struck and killed a pedestrian on a Houston freeway early Tuesday, then drove for several miles after the victim had crashed through the windshield and landed next to the passenger’s seat, authorities said.

The driver, James Onak, 49, faces a felony charge of failure to stop and render aid in a fatality and a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated, said Donna Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Onak had an attorney…

The collision severed one of the victim’s legs and sent the rest of his body through the windshield. It landed under the dashboard, on the passenger’s side floorboard, authorities said.

Onak drove for about three miles before a Harris County Precinct 8 deputy constable noticed heavy damage to the front of his vehicle and pulled him over at about 12:40 a.m., said Capt. Jason Finnen, with the constable’s office…

“It wasn’t until the driver stepped out that the deputy could see what had happened,” Finnen said. “Because of the impact, the body was positioned up under the dashboard on the passenger’s side floorboard.”

Onak told the deputy he had hit something while traveling on the freeway but was not aware it was a person, Finnen said.

Another unit was sent back to the freeway, where the victim’s severed leg and the vehicle’s license plate were discovered…

The deputy indicated that Onak appeared to be intoxicated, Finnen said. A blood sample was taken from Onak but Hawkins declined to say what the results of the test were.

Hit-and-run drivers are especially disgusting. But, this scumbag – running off with the remains of his victim in the car – is particularly contemptible. Drunk is no excuse. Not noticing the body? Give me a break.

Give us all a break. Throw away the key.

Hanging out with too many guys in long black dresses

A top cleric in the Russian Orthodox Church is under fire for saying that women who wear miniskirts and get drunk should not be surprised if they get raped.

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the head of the Orthodox Church’s department for relations between the church and society, complained that Russian women dressed like strippers and suggested a nationwide dress code should be introduced to ensure both sexes dress more conservatively.

“If she (a woman) is wearing a miniskirt, it is provocative,” he said. “If she is drunk at the same time then she is even more provocative, and if she herself is actively seeking contact with people and is then surprised when that contact ends in rape she is wrong…”

Human rights activist Ludmila Alexeyeva said: “It’s all nonsense. Let people dress how they like. Next they’ll be telling women not to wear lipstick…”

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the cleric who likened women to strippers, appeared to be in no mood to apologise however. He said he was glad he had started a public debate, denied he was justifying rape, and said a nationwide dress code was needed.

He also criticised men for wearing shorts, trainers and T-shirts.

The dude has serious problems with recognizing the outline or form of the human body. Methinks he’s transferring his own anxieties and hangups to everyone else.

No – not that sort of drunken bird!

There was nothing mysterious about the death of a flock of birds in Romania last week — they were simply drunk, veterinarians said.

Residents of the Black Sea city of Constanta alerted authorities on Saturday after they found dozens of dead starlings, fearing they may have been infected with bird flu, which triggered mass deaths in avian populations in 2004-2006.

“Tests on five birds showed gizzards full of grape marc which caused their death,” Romeu Lazar, head of the city’s veterinary authority told Reuters, referring to a pulpy residue which is a by-product of winemaking.

“This also applies to two dead crows we tested,” Lazar said. Birds are not used to alcohol but harsh winter and snow had prevented birds from finding food. Had they been able to eat some seeds, this would have diluted the poison…”

There have been a series of unexplained mass bird deaths in several countries across the globe in the last few weeks, including in the United States and Sweden.

A predictable number of conspiracy loonies have come forward with outlandish “causes” – most of which are about as out of touch with reality as the prophets offering them.