Interesting look back at a 2004 DUI fatality; and sentencing. Here’s a news story from the crash which the DUI, red light running driver nearly wiped out an entire family, killing 2 and seriously injured another, the fourth family member escaped with only minor (physical) injuries: Continue reading “Drunk driver who killed two asks to be set free”
The driver was taken to the hospital and no pedestrians were injured. (Photo: Jameson and Associates)
Tuesday March 3, 2015 ~ 1230pm. Oh my. The story is conspicuously silent on what might have caused a driver to end up in such a situation; an apparent “single vehicle” collision. Tag this one as yet another Seriously, how often does this kind of stuff happen?
Victim: 22 yo male, name not yet released (Donnell Kiwone Eason); incident 3/6/2015 ~ 1:30pm. Driver: 20 yo male; white Ford Mustang. The picture of the vehicle shows the impact area; left front corner whereupon the cyclist was apparently thrown over the hood and crushed the right-corner of the windshield and roof. Seems like a fairly high-speed impact.
The bicyclist, an unidentified 22-year-old man, was struck while traveling westbound on Thomas Road, Phoenix Police spokesman Sgt. Johnathan Howard said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Howard said. (Photo: Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/The Republic)
Here is what Central and Thomas looks like from a southbound driver’s viewpoint. According to the news report the bicyclist was “…riding westbound on the north side of Thomas Road at Central Avenue when he was struck by a southbound vehicle” — that would be with the direction of traffic; i.e. from left to right in this streetview.
Flowers adorn the central Phoenix wall on April 8 that a car rammed through following a wreck involving teen drivers in late March. The victim, Octavio Grijalva Herrera, died from his injuries.(Photo: Randsom Rockliffe / The Republic)
Pinal County investigators said a 21-year-old man was driving this car when it wrecked and killed a 27-year-old woman who was trapped inside. (Photo: Pinal County Sheriff’s Office)
That looks like it used to be a very fast car…. Pinal County investigators think alcohol might have been involved (incident Sunday? 3/1/2015 11:26p):
Oops, more driving on the sidewalk. This happened sometime before Sunday morning, 3/1/2015 when I passed by. It seems like it was just a few days ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a bus stop; or just a few weeks ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a wall. What leads to this sort of behavior — I suspect it has something to do with dangerous drivers. Like I said before, it’s all fun-and-games until someone drives up on the sidewalk and kills a jogger.
Senate OKs bill to allow sawed-off shotguns, silencers
Arizona’s Senate gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would end the state’s ban on sawed-off shotguns and silencers on weapons… The proposal, contained in a surprise amendment to Senate Bill 1460, passed with Republican support and Democratic opposition… The amendment, introduced by Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, was tacked onto her bill to restore gun rights to those with felony convictions after certain waiting periods or after the convictions are legally set aside. Ward said her amendment was “constituent driven” and about “making certain things legal that are illegal,” a vague description that drew hushed snickers from some in the Senate.
“My own view,” Ward said during a break in the session, “is we have the right to keep and bear arms, and really, that right shouldn’t be infringed. The government putting any kind of regulations on that is wrong.” — azcentral.com
Meanwhile, the full senate voted down Rep. Ward’s bill to end all photo-enforcement anywhere in Arizona:
Senate slams brakes on photo-enforcement ban
The gov’t is watching you Kelli Ward’s privacy nightmare?
Mind your speed: Photo enforcement will continue to be a tool local governments can use to control traffic, as the state Senate on Monday rejected a bill that would have banned red-light cameras and other technologies.
The issue drew bipartisan opposition, despite the argument from Sen. Kelli Ward, R-Lake Havasu City, that photo enforcement is unconstitutional and infringes on individual privacy… Safety, and an acknowledgment that local government is better able to gauge its traffic needs, prevailed as four GOP senators joined with the Democrats to kill Senate Bill 1167. Cities and towns lobbied against Ward’s bill, pointing to statistics that they say show the cameras, especially when used for red-light enforcement, cut accidents. … Ward, however, disputed many of the statistics and said the greater issue is what she perceives as the unconstitutionality of photo enforcement in the first place. Such devices, she said, collect information without the consent of the driver that can be stored by private companies and governments for later use, and they infringe on privacy rights. “You have no right to face your accuser,” when photo enforcement is used, she said. — azcentral.com
[2/17/2015 update: Officer Ferrin has resigned. ASU released a chief’s letter and an independent investigation commissioned by ASU performed by Investigative Research Inc. (apparently through public records?) I would describe as scathing, and that corroborates most of what I thought/said below, see the lengthy news story on azcentral — There is no law requiring peds to provide an ID card (in other words his saying “Let me see your ID or you will be arrested for failing to provide ID” is wrong, see Arizona v Akins, below); there was no ‘jaywalking’, see link below to the actual jaywalking laws; there was probably no probable cause for the arrest; he didn’t “almost run her over”; 5 days earlier the officer had a similar (but non-physical) power-trip incident over a crosswalk. and on and on. The transcript, see below, confirms Officer Ferrin doesn’t understand the (ID) law]
[ Wrong-way driver Stephen B Martin has pleaded not guilty in early February to all charges including felony counts for 2nd Degree Murder, several endangerment, along with some minor marijuana-related charges. CR-2015104415 (minutes). “Martin’s blood-alcohol content was 0.313 percent when a sample was taken at the hospital, records show” ]
There were two transportation-related fatalities in Tucson this past weekend…
Man riding mountain bike struck and killed by train
A 20-year-old man was struck and killed by a train on Saturday (2/14/2015) afternoon. According to a Tucson Police Department press release Jorge A. Villalobos was riding a mountain bike north along the train tracks near the Rillito River and Interstate 10.
TPD said Villalobos began riding on the bridge crossing the Rillito River. A train was also heading north on the tracks…. — bicycletucson.com
48th St northbound, near Ahwatukee Drive.
A passerby told me he heard a driver was planning on turning left from NB 48th onto Ahwatukee was rear-ended and pushed here. It’s only happenstance that no one was walking on this sidewalk at the time.
Oops, more driving on the sidewalk. This happened sometime before Sunday morning, 3/1/2015 when I passed by. It seems like it was just a few days ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a bus stop; or just a few weeks ago that someone drove up on the sidewalk and killed a wall. What leads to this sort of behavior — I suspect it has something to do with dangerous drivers. Like I said before, it’s all fun-and-games until someone drives up on the sidewalk and kills a jogger.
This bus stop on Warner Road, just west of 51st Street, Phoenix (Ahwatukee) was killed sometime ~ 2/25/2015 by some sort of careless, dangerous driver. It’s all fun and games, except when somebody gets killed, like the drunk driver who killed 2 at a Phoenix bus stop in March of 2013.
48th St northbound, near Ahwatukee Drive.