I hate drunk drivers!
I hate drunk drivers!
Here is the news article...
5 from Parkville die in crash in Ohio
Pickup driver charged with vehicular homicide
By Nick Madigan and Gus G. Sentementes | Sun reporters
2:18 PM EST, December 31, 2007
Police in Ohio charged a 24-year-old construction worker with five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide today after he was involved in an auto accident last night in which five members of a Maryland family died -- including an eight-week-old baby girl.
A charging document filed with the Toledo Municipal Court said that Michael P. Gagnon, whose pickup truck "ripped off the passenger side" of the minivan carrying the family, was shown after a test in a hospital to have had a blood-alcohol level of .254 percent, more than three times the legal limit.
Police said Gagnon had appeared to be so intoxicated before the accident that employees of a restaurant where he had purchased food called police to report his condition.
Gagnon left the Taco Bell restaurant in Oregon, Ohio, before officers arrived and was seen getting onto an interstate in the wrong direction, police said. Shortly afterward, he crashed his Ford F350 pickup truck "nearly head-on" into a minivan driven by Danny G. Griffin Jr., 36, who was driving his family home to Parkville after spending the holidays with relatives in Michigan.
Both Gagnon and Griffin survived the accident and were being treated at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center. Gagnon was in the hospital's intensive-care unit, his condition unclear, and Griffin was listed as stable.
Griffin's wife, Bethany Griffin, 36, and their children Jordan Griffin, 10, and Vadi Griffin, 8 weeks old, were killed, as were two of their step-children, Lacie Burkman, 7, and Haley Burkman, 10. Two other children, Sidney Griffin, 8, and Beu Burkman, 8, survived; Sidney was in critical condition, and Beu was listed as stable.
Lt. Kevin Keel, a spokesman for the Toledo Police Department, said he understood that Gagnon had been drinking in a bar in Oregon, a community near Toledo, before the crash. The call from the Taco Bell had been picked up by Oregon police, who went to the restaurant but apparently missed Gagnon before he got onto the southbound lanes of Interstate 280.
Keel said Gagnon would be arrested as soon as his doctors deem him fit for release.
"I don't believe he's extremely injured," said Keel, who noted that there were no witnesses to the crash but that other drivers happened by shortly after it occurred about 11 p.m.
"Both vehicles tried to swerve out of the way of the other," the police statement said, referring to Gagnon's truck and Griffin's Chevrolet Astro minivan. "The heavier Ford truck sheared off the passenger-side doors of the minivan. Several occupants on the right side were ejected."
Four people were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. The infant, who had been secured in a child's restraint seat, was declared dead at the hospital.
Gagnon "smelled of intoxicants," the police said. Once at St. Vincent's, blood was drawn from him after officers obtained a search warrant to do so.
Earlier, Gagnon left a party without telling anyone and was not supposed to have been driving, his brother, Samuel Gagnon, 21, told The Sun by telephone this morning.
"I don't know why he decided to leave," the younger Gagnon said. "Everyone's in shock. We're supposed to be celebrating the New Year, but now I got to look forward to my brother in jail the rest of his life."
Gagnon said that he, his brother and their cousins were partying at a hotel near Toledo and had rented a room there. Their sister, who is pregnant, was supposed to drive them home, but Gagnon said he discovered that his brother had left abruptly and had taken his pickup truck, which they use for their construction business in Adrian, Mich.
Worried, Samuel Gagnon said he called his brother's cell phone. He said his brother answered the phone and simply said, "Sorry, bro." Later, a Fire Department official got on the phone and said his brother had been in an accident.
Photographs published in the online edition of The Toledo Blade showed crumpled Christmas wrapping paper, a baby seat and luggage strewn on the road near the damaged vehicles.
Samuel Gagnon said his brother had planned to travel to Iowa two days ago to start work in the construction business. But he delayed his trip for unknown reasons. "I wish he had just left," Gagnon said. He said he and family members tried to visit his brother at the hospital but were not allowed to see him.
Oh that is just so sad. I almost couldnt even get through the rest of it... I am seriously sick to my stomach.
OF COURSE he survived. Fucker.
Eta:
I just read the whole story, and am livid. The details sent shivers down my spine. WHAT a tragedy.
I wish the US was more European when it comes to drunk driving convictions.
That makes me so sad. Driving drunk is one of the most selfish things you can do. I hope this guy gets to sit in jail for a long time to think about what he's done.
Has anyone else noticed how incredibly STUPID some (or many) drivers seem these days? Driving drunk, texting while driving, watching movies (WTF?!?), tailgating, driving waaaaay too fast, especially in bad driving conditions... Ugh. I really want to take a defensive driving course now.
What makes the story even worse is that the family was coming back from visiting relatives during the holidays. Happy holidays, right?
Why does the drunk always live?
One theory is that due to intoxication, they "bounce" off of the interior of their vehicle during impact, whereas the victims are taken by surprise & attempt evasive maneuvering before being struck. More variable for the victims to be injured, versus a drifting drunk not quite aware of what is going on.
For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by the sight of the pearlized pink casket of a girl who was killed by a drunk driver. When I saw her casket, I thought simply, I didn't know they made caskets in pink.
She was 21. She had a baby.
The mom was the best friend of a friend of mine. I didn't do a search in another site I go to and they said "she was T's best friend hon"
I got a call this morning from a friend who said she was going to make something for the cause and said "can you share it with your friends this site?" I though oh I don't know but when I read the story and all I said "absolutely"
Anyway I wasn't feeling all that great so I posted and laid down for a nap, I should of searched before I put it up here and there, here no one seems to have heard of it but there it hit hard cause damn it it was her best friend. I didn't knowNow I got to talk to her, I hope I didn't just bring out more pain for her, I know how it feels to lose a friend, it has happened to me 4 times! it is horrid but I think helping out for the charity and or spreading the word will help out.
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