It seems to me there are many un-charged crimes here by Pinal prosecutor Voyles. How is this not reckless driving? Endangerment? Fleeing from police? You gotta love this part: “He said he was working and talking on his cellphone and that ‘I always use all lanes of traffic when I drive.’ “.
He netted 48 hours in jail; and what i suppose is whatever the standard suspension is for a 1st time simple DUI.
This is the same prosecutor Voyles who declined to bring any charges against the (now-fired) deputy involved in a high-speed fatal collision in 2012. And the same (office, anyways, the Pinal County Attorney) that let the hit-and-run driver who seriously injured a Casa Grande bicyclist off with a no-jail plea deal, dropping all hit-and-run charges.
DeMenna was stopped just before noon Oct. 24, 2014, near Eloy after several motorists on Interstate 10 called 911 to report that a BMW was “all over the road and almost hitting other vehicles,” cutting off semi-trucks, driving on the left shoulder and in the median, according to police reports.
Arizona Department of Public Safety and Eloy Police Department officers followed reports of the BMW’s path on and off the interstate for 30 minutes before they were able to track down the vehicle.
The car exited Interstate 10 near Eloy and drove “erratically” through a truck stop parking lot before getting back on the freeway heading west toward Casa Grande, according to police reports.
An Eloy police officer on an overpass was the first to spot the BMW when he “saw a large plume of dust go into the air and observed a (white sedan) driving on the center emergency lane.”
The officer said the westbound car again exited Interstate 10, this time onto Jimmie Kerr Boulevard, then headed east on the frontage road. The officer said the driver stopped for about a minute at a stop sign, then pulled slowly into oncoming traffic, nearly causing a collision.
The officer got behind the BMW and attempted to stop it, but he said the driver ignored the patrol car’s lights and siren.
The BMW made a right turn onto Sunland Gin Road, idled at a railroad crossing for about 20 seconds, then pulled forward and stopped.
DPS officers arrived, identified DeMenna from his driver’s license and asked him to get out of the car. Officers said DeMenna needed to lean against his own car and then a police SUV for support.
According to the DPS report, DeMenna volunteered to take a field sobriety test and failed. His eyes could not follow objects smoothly, he swayed on his feet, had trouble raising his arms, could not walk in a straight line and his body shook when he attempted to stand without help.
Officers said they did not complete the sobriety test because they decided that it would be “too dangerous” for DeMenna to continue…
At the scene, DeMenna denied drinking or taking drugs and volunteered that he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an Arizona lobbyist, according to police reports.
… He said he was working and talking on his cellphone and that “I always use all lanes of traffic when I drive.”
… Court records indicate that Pinal County prosecutors did not object to DeMenna’s attorney’s request to leave unchecked a box marked “drugs” in reports sent to the Motor Vehicle Division about the conviction. If the box had been checked for drugs, the MVD could have required DeMenna to pass drug screening before his license was reinstated.
Arizona lobbyist Kevin DeMenna admits drug addiction following arrest