Man drives up on sidewalk, killed pedestrian in his Tempe neighborhood

Joining the “seriously, how often does stuff like this happen?” file.

Answer is with alarming regularity.

No one is safe from traffic violence.

12/17/2021 7:30AM Pedestrian was walking along Cornell near Forest; this is the neighborhood adjoining Kiwanis park in Tempe. This is a residential area, traffic engineers would call Cornell Drive “collector” street.

The driver, of course, fled the scene. He was later arrested for susp of hit-and-run, and manslaughter and a few other things. Continue reading “Man drives up on sidewalk, killed pedestrian in his Tempe neighborhood”

The drunken crash that led to tougher Arizona DUI law

DUI driver killed (at least) 3.

The Arizona Republic has been running a series of throwback stories from the files of report Don Bolles who was murdered in 1976, presumably related to mob investigations he was conducting.

This one, unrelated to mob, popped up this week Don Bolles files: The drunken crash that led to tougher Arizona DUI law

The quick synopsis was in the early morning hours of  Easter Sunday 1971 a very drunk driver at .251 BAC killed 3 people and left a 4th person in a permanent vegetative state. He was portrayed as being not particularly remorseful. He ultimately served 6 months of a 1 year sentence for a guilty plea to misdemeanor manslaughter. Continue reading “The drunken crash that led to tougher Arizona DUI law”

DUI and wrong-way driving

DUI has a new aggravation — wrong way driving — as of 2018. Presumably added in the recent years as wrong-way driving, which is almost always associated with impairment, seems to have become more common. (NTSB says official — FARS —  stats are only 50%, however because of non-testing all drivers, the actual figure is “as high as” 75%)

This popped up in the news a few days ago; when police say driver Charles Tack was DUI, driving the wrong way, and involved in a (non-injury) collision on the Loop 202 freeway near I-10. Continue reading “DUI and wrong-way driving”

DUI and the beat goes on…

photo: DPS

There are tens of thousands of DUI arrests every year in Arizona; we rarely hear about any of these unless the person has some sort of celebrity, or unless they kill some people; examples of either case aren’t hard to find. Impaired drivers continue to account for a significant fraction of traffic fatalities (24% in 2016) amounting to hundreds of deaths in Arizona alone; victims are the drivers themselves, other drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians.   Continue reading “DUI and the beat goes on…”

2 Dead 1 Critical in Tempe Wreck

Photo: Megan Janetsky/The Republic

10/2/2017 Monday evening ~ 8PM. Police say impairment may be involved. Southern near Hardy. Two motorists died and a third is in critical condition. (died later)

Southern is one of Tempe’s series/network of high-speed arterial roads. High speeds are conducive to death. Pedestrians and Bicyclist do often become collateral damage, but motorists are the most frequent victims. Continue reading “2 Dead 1 Critical in Tempe Wreck”

Navajo Nation police officer charged with murder in deadly Glendale crash

Driver charged with endangerment and 2nd degree murder and in last week’s killing of Peter Rankin who was on the sidewalk. Medical reports say the driver had a BAC of 0.235, almost triple the legal limit (anything over .20 would be “super-extreme” DUI).

more here: pd-driver-hit-suv-killed-bicyclist-in-glendale-before-hitting-police-car

AZ Dui Arrests have been declining; has DUI been declining? source: AZ GOHS

.

Continue reading “Navajo Nation police officer charged with murder in deadly Glendale crash”

Report: Wrong-way driver who killed 3 very high BAC level

photo: DPS

“Keaton Allison, 21, had a BAC level of 0.25 percent, according to blood-testing results from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner.” — azcentral

see more at 3-dead-in-wrong-way-wreck-i-17-phoenix Continue reading “Report: Wrong-way driver who killed 3 very high BAC level”

Arrested Mesa councilman has previous extreme DUI conviction

This is the kind of driving that kills bicyclists…

(police) observed the driver swerving within his lane and nearly striking the curb several times

And pedestrians. And motorists. Drunk driving continues to be a significant factor in traffic fatalities and injuries. In Arizona, 272 of the 893 fatalities (30%) last year involved a driver who was legally drunk (BAC 0.08 or above). If it’s any consolation, nationally the figure is 29%. Continue reading “Arrested Mesa councilman has previous extreme DUI conviction”

Spewing Hatred

[This is an old case: it happened in Tucson before 2009, but it has a bit of a twist… ]

December 1, 2006: A driver plows into the rear end of a bicyclist in a Tuscon-area Bike Lane (or probably more accurately, a shoulder), killing him. The young woman driving is drunk, very drunk. She tried for manslaughter, gets convicted of the lesser included charge of negligent homicide by the jury; here’s the twist, a phone call from jail while awaiting sentencing (from what i remember, all jail phone calls are monitored/recorded) causes her to receive the max sentence: Continue reading “Spewing Hatred”

More about: Celebrity DUIs and other car criminals

There are tens of thousands of DUI arrests per year in AZ (39,746 in 2013 to be more precise). And that’s not counting the many of the over ten thousand hit-and-run drivers reported each year in AZ (11,402 in 2010 to be more precise), all of whom are criminals, thousands of them serious felons, few of whom are ever caught or charged. (hit-and-run from a collision with any injury is a felony, if the injury is serious or fatal the felony is likewise serious). Continue reading “More about: Celebrity DUIs and other car criminals”

Police suspect DUI: Owner recounts car barreling into his Phoenix restaurant

The un-named driver’s black BMW at rest inside the heavily damaged restaurant. Driver was charged with DUI.

12/2 ~6:15pm near Thomas Road and 15th Avenue. Nice.

The car drove up the sidewalk and over the curb before colliding with a tree, plowing through a pillar holding up the restaurant’s patio roof and continuing on into the main dining area of the restaurant where eight people sat.

The man was later cited for driving while impaired, police said. His name was not released.

Why not?

Continue reading “Police suspect DUI: Owner recounts car barreling into his Phoenix restaurant”

MCSO: Bicyclist hit and killed near Mesa by driver on heroin

11/22/2016 ~7:30 Bicyclist Eric I. Gilbert was hit and killed by a driver who (lost control or whatever) jumped the curb and struck the cyclist (on the sidewalk or dirt, presumably; see google maps view of the general vicinity). The driver, of course, fled the scene; and the suspect vehicle was found a short distance away. A suspect driver was fingered via the owner of the vehicle and was arrested a couple of days later. MSCO says the suspect said he was on heroin at the time. Continue reading “MCSO: Bicyclist hit and killed near Mesa by driver on heroin”

NE-side Tucson serious injury — driver arrested

Bicyclist Brett Karrle was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash, Monday 10/10/2016 mid-afternoon.

Catalina Highway,  south of Fort Lowell Rd, in Tucson, AZ (I can’t find that on google maps?). Presumably hit from behind but there are no details in the reporting.

The driver fled the scene, and was later located a short time later and arrested on hit/run and aggravated assault charges (suspected impairment).

Continue reading “NE-side Tucson serious injury — driver arrested”

Driver kills 4, injures 9 in horrific crash

photo: Jeff Lasky @10NewsLasky
photo: Jeff Lasky @10NewsLasky

Chandler residents Cruz and Annamarie Contreras were among the 4 pedestrians killed (plus more injured) in a park  when a pickup driver lost control and crashed in San Diego / Coronado.

The driver was also injured and arrested for DUI causing death/injury. Continue reading “Driver kills 4, injures 9 in horrific crash”

Driver in fatal hit and run arrested for second degree murder

8/12/2016 Victim Scott Koch, 58

Driver Eric Joseph Corral, alleged red light running, DUI, and hit-and-run. Driver arrested on suspicion of 2nd degree murder.

Victim was crossing the road in a crosswalk with a green/walk signal when struck by a red-light-runner. Valencia and Nexus, Tucson. Continue reading “Driver in fatal hit and run arrested for second degree murder”