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Archive for the 'DUI' Category
Jan. 22nd 2010
By Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune
January 21, 2010, 2:01PM
celestain-off-duty.jpgEliot Kamenitz / The Times-PicayuneAlfred Celestain practices for a police officer fund-raising music concert in 2004. Celestain died Jan. 11 from injuries he sustained during an on-duty car accident the morning of Jan. 9.
The local former soccer player accused of driving drunk, crashing into a New Orleans police car and killing a veteran officer early Jan. 9 was jailed Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the officer’s family scheduled a private funeral Mass Friday at St. Louis Cathedral.
Gino Ray, 24, was booked with one count of vehicular homicide in the death of 8th District officer Alfred Celestain Sr., 54, according to Criminal District Court records. Investigators waited 11 days to arrest Ray because of a routine, but labor-intensive, fatality probe that required the reconstruction of the accident scene, said officer Janssen Valencia, a New Orleans Police Department spokesman.
A judge on Wednesday afternoon set the 24-year-old’s bond at $15,000. Ray, a project manager for a local roofing company and ex-player for the former New Orleans Shell Shockers, paid it and was released Thursday, jail records show.
Police accuse Ray of speeding past a red light at the corner of St. Charles Avenue and St. Joseph Street in the Central Business District about 4:30 a.m. His 2009 Dodge Ram plowed into the passenger side of a patrol car that rookie NOPD officer Cordae Hankton drove. Celestain, Hankton’s field training officer, sat in the passenger side. The collision left the veteran trapped inside the mangled cruiser, a police report filed in court said.
Emergency responders later extricated Celestain. Paramedics took him and Hankton to LSU Interim Public Hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, the officer investigating the accident approached Ray, smelled “a strong odor of alcoholic beverage,” and had him moved to the NOPD’s driving-while-intoxicated office. The report said Ray failed a field sobriety test there and registered a .13 blood-alcohol level on a breath test, over Louisiana’s limit of .08.
Ray, of the 1400 block of Constance Street in New Orleans, was originally booked with DWI, driving without a seatbelt, reckless driving and disregarding a red light.
At the hospital, Hankton survived with minor injuries. But Celestain — a father to children ages 32, 24 and 4 — died at 9:15 p.m. Jan. 11. He received treatment for fractured ribs, hip displacement, small facial injuries and a brain injury. He appeared to be fine but slipped into a coma, said Dr. Frank Minyard, the Orleans Parish coroner. Celestain’s relatives opted to remove him from a life-support system doctors put him on when he lost consciousness.
Detectives obtained a vehicular homicide arrest warrant Tuesday. Ray surrendered to deputies at Orleans Parish Prison at 8:30 a.m. the next day, records show.
gino-ray.jpgMichael DeMocker / The Times-PicayuneGino Ray, in black, plays for the New Orleans Shell Shockers in 2007. He was booked Jan. 20 with vehicular homicide in the death of police officer Alfred Celestain.
If Ray is eventually convicted of vehicular homicide, he could spend between five and 30 years in prison. However, Louisiana law would allow him the possibility of parole three years into any imposed sentence because his blood-alcohol content was less than .15
Ray expressed remorse during a telephone interview with The Times-Picayune the day after Celestain died. “I am really sorry for both (of the officers’) families,” he said.
Valencia noted that Ray cooperated fully with the investigation.
Celestain joined the NOPD in 1989. His brave actions during various gunfights won him honorable citations, medals and a reputation as one of the department’s most street-tested veterans. Toward the end of his career, the NOPD’s brass tasked him with teaching rookies how to survive their beats.
A funeral Mass will be said Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter. He will be buried at Lake Lawn Park Cemetery, according to his obituary in The Times-Picayune.
Jan. 18th 2010
TMZ reports that Security guards at a posh Golden Globes after-party this weekend saved Ed Lauter a ton of trouble when they steered the drunken actor away from his car and into a cab despite his protests. Witnesses report that the Grey’s Anatomy and NYPD Blue actor slurred heavily as he argued that he was fit to navigate the roads, spotted with weekend DUI checkpoints, before finally giving in and handing over his keys.
Actor Dennis Quaid was similarly spared the Celebrity DUI Treatment in October when a police officer passed by just in time to convince a stumbling and intoxicated Quaid from driving his SUV away from a West Hollywood restaurant.
A DUI is a serious offense that often results in heavy fines and consequences ranging from probation to jail time. With the NFC title game coming up followed by the Big Game on February 7th and Mardi Gras soon after, keep an eye out for your friends and know when to call a cab! Should you or a friend run into trouble, call Bloom Legal immediately - the sooner you call the sooner we can get to work for you!
Jan. 17th 2010
The L.A. Times has reported that a California judge has granted actor Mel Gibson’s request that his 2006 arrest for drunk driving be expunged from his record.
In July 2006, Gibson was arrested following a speeding stop, during which he shouted profanities and anti-Semitic remarks at the officers. Now, having satisfied the terms of his sentencing and probation, Gibson has successfully petitioned to have the record of his arrest and guilty verdict destroyed.
In these tough times, any mark on your record can be a serious obstacle when competing for a job. Bloom Legal can help you with your expungement and ensure that you’ve got a clean record before anyone runs a background check! Call Bloom Legal today for a free consultation!
Jan. 13th 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The Sturgis woman who prosecutors say was arrested with a blood-alcohol level almost nine times the legal driving limit, has pleaded not guilty in Sturgis to driving under the influence.
Marguerite Engle, 45, entered the plea Tuesday in Meade County Magistrate Court in Sturgis. Engle was arrested Dec. 1 when she was found passed out behind the wheel of a stolen delivery van along Interstate 90.
Meade County State’s Attorney Jesse Sondreal said Wednesday that other charges against Engle will be presented to a grand jury on Thursday, Jan. 14. Those include driving under the influence, misdemeanor marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and not having a valid driver’s license.
Sondreal earlier said Engle had a blood-alcohol level of .708 percent, possibly a state record, when she was found behind the wheel of the vehicle parked on I-90.
A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper discovered Engle passed out behind the wheel of a delivery truck reported stolen from Rapid City.
Her blood-alcohol level was almost nine times South Dakota’s legal limit of .08 percent.
Engle’s reading may be the highest ever recorded in South Dakota, Sondreal said.
Sondreal said a state chemist recalled a sample that tested .53, but nothing higher, in his more than 30 years on the job.
Dr. Robert Looyenga, who recently retired from the Rapid City Police Department’s forensic laboratory, told Sondreal that the highest blood-alcohol sample he tested measured .56 percent.
Sondreal’s research indicates that a blood-alcohol level of .40 is considered a lethal dose for about 50 percent of the population.
“Engle’s was almost double that,” Sondreal said.
After she was found, Engle was hospitalized and freed on bond.
She failed to appear in court on Dec. 15, but Sturgis police located her Jan. 4 in another stolen car sitting in a ditch along S.D. Highway 34 near Fort Meade.
Engle was arrested for second offense driving under the influence and taken to jail. She is being held without bond.
Sondreal said Engle has been living in a hotel after recently moving here from Minnesota.
Engle is most likely facing charges in Pennington County since both vehicles were stolen in Rapid City, Sondreal said.
Jan. 9th 2010
By Brendan McCarthy, The Times-Picayune
January 08, 2010, 10:07PM
Three people, including a brother and sister, were fatally shot and another woman critically wounded late Thursday night in a home invasion in the St. Roch neighborhood.
Inside a bedroom, the suspects killed two women with an assault rifle and wounded a third woman. They used a handgun to execute a young man in the rear yard, authorities said. They spared only a toddler.
MURDERS010910.jpg
The attack took place shortly before midnight inside a shotgun double in the 2700 block of Urquhart Street, a tough, residential neighborhood with houses cheek by jowl.
New Orleans police officers, responding to a report of a burglary, found the door ajar. Inside they discovered the female victims.
Kewanda Harris, 30, was killed by an assault rifle in one of the bedrooms. Her partner, Karen Matthews, who is in her 20s, had been fatally shot as well, according to John Gagliano, the spokesman for the Orleans Parish coroner who released the identities. Relatives and a neighbor confirmed their relationship.
Another woman, 26, was found alive but severely wounded. She was taken to LSU Interim Public Hospital in critical condition.
Desmond Harris, Kewanda’s 23-year-old brother, had been shot in the head and fell face-down in the rear yard, authorities said.
Police believe that the motive in the slayings revolves around drugs, which were often sold from the house.
“It appears that the shooting involved the sale and distribution of narcotics from that home,” said Marlon Defillo, assistant police superintendent. “We are trying to determine whether it was a drug rip-off or something else.”
Defillo said Friday evening that detectives had worked through the night and were pursing some “very good leads.”
By midmorning Friday, the house had been cordoned off, its front door affixed with a sticker from the coroner’s office. Two homicide detectives huddled in the cold as crime scene technicians snapped photographs in the rear yard of the coffee-colored home, which had sheets covering the windows.
Next-door neighbor Wallace Welsh, 45, said people frequently sold drugs in and around the home, and that drug sales are an ongoing issue in the neighborhood. Welsh, who confirmed their identities and relationships, said he heard little at the time of the incident and learned of the shooting when police arrived. He said he is haunted by what he saw.
Karen Harris, 44, a cousin of both Desmond and Kewanda Harris, said in an interview that her relatives grew up in the Magnolia public housing complex and recently settled into the Urquhart apartment.
She added that Desmond was the outgoing sibling, a “hard-working and fun-loving man,” employed at the Cat’s Meow nightclub on Bourbon Street. A manager there declined to comment Friday.
She also said Kewanda Harris was quiet, respectful and very much in love with her girlfriend.
Karen Harris had no answers for the motive in the killing of her cousins.
“I’m trying to find out myself,” she said.
Brendan McCarthy can be reached at bmccarthy@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3301.
Jan. 8th 2010
Three people dead, one wounded in overnight New Orleans shooting
By The Times-Picayune
January 08, 2010, 6:00AM
nopd-badge.jpg
An overnight shooting left two young women and one young man dead, according to the New Orleans Police Department. Another woman was critically wounded.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting inside of a home in the 2700 block of Urquhart Street about 12 a.m., police said. When they arrived, they found two unidentified women and a 26-year-old woman with bullet wounds to their bodies. They also found a 23-year-old man lying in the back yard with a gunshot wound to his head.
New Orleans EMS paramedics summoned to the scene pronounced the two unidentified women and the 23-year-old man dead. They took the 26-year-old woman to LSU Interim Public Hospital, where doctors later listed her in critical condition, police said.
Investigators didn’t release any of the victims’ names. They also didn’t identify any suspects or a motive behind the attack.
Police ask anyone with information about the crime to call Crimestoppers at 504.822.1111 or toll-free at 877.903.7867. Tips leading to an indictment may receive a $2,500 reward, and callers don’t have to leave their name or testify.
Dec. 31st 2009
Many of you may have heard the news regarding Saints defensive end Bobby McCray and his recent arrest. McCray was arrested early Tuesday after an officer pulled him over for speeding. After refusing to take a breathalyzer test, Bobby McCray “was booked into Orleans Parish Prison on charges of driving while intoxicated, speeding, careless operation of a motor vehicle and not having his vehicle registration with him,” according to the article “New Orleans Saints DE McCray charged with DWI.”
A person’s refusal to take a breathalyzer test can result in the automatic loss of your license for a year. And the result of having a DWI or speeding ticket on your record can produce equally severe results. If ever you find yourself in a situation similar to that of McCray, Bloom Legal is ready and able to help you. Bloom Legal constantly deals with issues relating to DWIs, speeding, and accidents, to name a few. Don’t let your arrest impede your life. Call Bloom Legal today.
Dec. 31st 2009
The Saints are winning! The Sugarbowl is here! And with a new year looming in the air and New Year’s Eve festivities commencing, it is much too easy to fall prey to too much drinking. However, it is imperative to be aware of the consequences of too much partying. Along with consuming too many plates of food comes the ever present temptation to consume too many alcoholic beverages. According to an article published in the Gainesville Times, “[i]n 2005, the most recent year for which data was available, there were 193 alcohol-related fatalities across the country on New Year’s Eve. There were 259 in 1986.”
As many of you may notice, law enforcement will be in full effect tonight. And who really wants to ring in the New Year inside a jail cell? Fortunately, if you do get caught driving while intoxicated, Bloom Legal can help! With an experienced lawyer ready to help you, you can breathe easy knowing that we are on your side. Bloom Legal provides expert legal assistance in areas across the legal spectrum, including DWIs. So, remember to be safe tonight. If you know that you are going to be drinking alcohol, make sure you have a designated driver. If that plan fails, call and request a taxi. HAPPY NEW YEAR and GEAUX SAINTS!!!!
Dec. 23rd 2009
Police warn of DWI crackdown!
Drivers should be careful this holiday season, as Louisiana police will be out in full force, cracking down on DUI & DWI violations. The last thing that you or your family wants to deal with during the hectic holidays is an arrest for driving under the influence in New Orleans or other areas in Louisiana. Driving while intoxicated is a serious offense, especially with the new 2008 statutory regulations that require a 15-day jail sentence for people arrested for driving while their licenses are suspended as a result of a previous DWI. If you refuse to take a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test, you can have your license suspended for a year! You might also be required to have an ignition interlock device as a DWI or DUI offender. A DWI or DUI conviction can result in fines, court costs and even jail time.
If you or a family member or friend has been arrested under suspicion of DWI or DUI, you need an attorney! Bloom Legal is experienced in DWI and DUI defense and knows how to use innovative tactics to defend clients to the fullest. Call Bloom Legal for all your DUI and DWI or traffic ticket violations today!
May. 21st 2008
For most folk, when you think about drunk driving the worst case scenario is seeing those flashing red lights behind you, and knowing that you’re about to be taken down to jail with your license being at risk, your money being taken in fines, and maybe even some jail time or community service. All very bad news, of course.
But it might not stop there. If you hurt someone when you are operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content that’s over the state’s legal limit, then you’re facing criminal charges for that harm, as well.
Take the case of Darren Yax. Darren was giving Heather Habisreitinger a ride on the back of his Kawasaki motorcycle last December - about a week before Christmas - when he crashed into a vehicle that was stopped at an intersection. Heather went flying, and died as a result of the traffic accident.
Darren’s BAC was tested at .10, over the legal limit.
Yesterday, the grand jury indicted Darren Yax for vehicular homicide in the death of Heather Habisreitinger, and he’s facing a minimum of 5 years (maximum of 30) incarceration if convicted.
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