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Arlington police chief stops, arrests wrong-way driver on seventh OUI charge

Arlington Police report Chief Frederick Ryan was driving down Grove Street around 5:30 p.m. when he spotted a car coming down the road on the wrong side - followed by a man in another car, honking at her in a vain attempt to get her to stop.

Ryan turned on the emergency lights on his undercover car and forced Brenda Drinkwater, 60, of Revere, to pull over.

Other cars on the road were being forced off the road by the wrong-way driver. Approaching the car, the Chief asked Drinkwater for her license and registration, and she reached into her purse and handed him a credit card and a receipt from a liquor store for a bottle of vodka. The Chief then saw an open bottle of vodka on her passenger seat and could clearly smell the odor of liquor on her breath.

Chief Ryan ordered her out of the car. She nearly fell over and was extremely unsteady on her feet. After failing a number of sobriety tests, she was taken into custody.

Drinkwater was charged with OUI, seventh offense, driving to endanger, drinking from an open container while driving and failure to keep to the right.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

Brenda ought to drink water, instead of booze.

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Good thing they tacked on that failure to keep right. That ought to set her straight.

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Last fall, without warning, two traffic islands got shoehorned in the middle of the Summer St. It was too late to paint needed yellow split warning lines, so several drivers crashed into them. After a couple accidents, the DPW put little traffic cones to help warn drivers of the obstacles. Bicyclists complained because cars forced to go around the islands left no room for cyclists on the shoulder.

Ms. Drinkvodka seemed to not hit the islands like sober drivers, but went around them on the left, hence "wrong way" driving.

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Traffic islands don't cause drunk driving.

If you can't deal with traffic islands and reconfigured traffic conditions, you should not be driving and should get off of the road.

I cycle in that area and, if anything, the traffic islands clarify the travel areas and prevent cars from flying all over the road to get around each other because "stopped traffic means SWERVE!!!!".

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Defense attorneys will ask the officer on the stand why the arrestee wasn't charged with something they actually did. If they weren't charged with it, was the officer sure they did it?. It's very important actually.

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"failure to keep right" charge to be brought, instead of accepting the officer's statement "I observed Mr. X driving on the wrong side of the road", in order for more serious charges - like the OUI - to be brought as well, then there is someting very, very, very wrong with our justice system.

Of course, the fact this is the guy's seventh OUI charge also speaks as to the inadequacies of our justice system,

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Note how, instead of looking sorry for her actions, she instead looks PISSED that she got caught (again.)

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What she looks like to me is broken and defeated.

I fully support keeping her from behind the wheel of a car forever. If taking away her license is not sufficient, then she needs to be kept in a cage, because she is a danger to the rest of us.

But that does not mean I do not have compassion for her.

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How in gods name do you get a seventh oui? How do you even keep your license after a third? It's quite clear she's not gonna stop drinking and hasn't learned her lesson. She needs jail time and a lifetime revocation of her license. I used to have a boss that could never drive again after his 5th DUI and I was amazed that it took that long. I didn't know seven was even possible and what's messed up is it looks like she'll get a chance to have an eighth.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/11/06/a_jud...

...among others. I think they did another more recently? Couldn't find the link.

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I realize that given her age, some of them may have been from the era when society didn't take DUI quite so seriously, but after about your third, the state should be taking steps to see that you don't get behind the wheel of a car again, ever.

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Taking away someone's license only works if it means something to the driver. Plus the maximum incarceration periods for repeat offenders are laughable.

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How is a seventh OUI possible? I thought you permanently lose your license on the fifth offense. And the charges don't mention driving without a license.

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Seven OUI arrests sounds more dramatic in press releases than a lesser number of convictions.

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Constantly drunk, caught seven times, somehow managed to not kill anyone yet and had enabling friends in the "justice" system.

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7 arrests sounds less dramatic than the number of times she probably drove drunk, its only the number of times she was caught. But Im sure drunk drivers are happy you are on their side to defend them from the evil government trying to stop people from their god given right to drive drunk, kill people and then claim they were drunk so they shouldn't be held accountable.

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Where did you pull that out of, anonymous coward?

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I don't know how anyone could get the impression that Mark supports drivers' rights to the exclusion of everyone else on the planet.

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Just execute the bitch already. There's no rehabilitation for 60 year olds. Time to die.

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... is old and tiresome.

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And mine doesn't potentially result in vehicular homicide. Go ride shotgun with her if you think she's so great.

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Let's just kill everyone you disapprove of.

Sheesh!

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Everyone who's made it through at least as far as a decent middle school education understands that false dichotomy is a crappy rhetorical technique.

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I know you are but what am I???

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Actually, did you know that the summary extrajudicial execution of (almost) elderly substance abuse sufferers is widely considered a massive human rights violation?

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/iran-to-execute-two-for...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2222442/North-Korean-official-ex...
http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=Sau...

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A person getting injured or killed by an automobile driven by a drunk.

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....I get the impression that you think 60-year-olds are a bunch of useless, unproductive old fucks who should just do everybody a favor and take a walk into the desert and just die.
Sorry to disappoint, Will, but I have a long way to go, yet.

And as mentioned previously, your schtick is getting old.

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In Will's defense (I do not support Will's sentiment in any way, mind you) he said she is beyond rehabilitation at her age. Had she been productive, rather than a threat to us all, she would not be "useless." But he's saying she is set in her ways by this age, and in no way did he say everyone over 60 is a burden.

Again, I don't agree with Will at all. But he has a point, which I think could be settled with an incredibly steep fine and permanent revocation of her license.

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... with a location monitor. Sent to some sort of confinement if she gets caught driving again (even when not drunk). But summary execution at the command of King Will the Tulip, no.

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I agree that Will is not referring to all folks 60 YO however, his comments are beyond inappropriate and very offensive. He does have a right to his opinion and freedom of speech allows him to say what he wants as long as he is not violating anyone's civil rights or breaking any contractual agreement.
I would pay closer attention to the liquor store receipt. To be that drunk she must have been drinking for a while. When did she purchase the vodka and was she already drunk? Should someone in addition to her be held accountable? Just a thought.

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If she were 30 I would call for her head.

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You'd call for her head if she spit on the sidewalk.

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Of crimes for which I believe people should be executed:

-All murders

-All rapes

-All armed robberies

-Any three felonies

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Do you also advocate execution of any judge and district attorney who execute any innocent citizens in their quest for retribution and reelection?

Because that is what happens in states with the death penalty.

Also, for the class, please use facts and statistics to demonstrate that capital punishment has any deterrent effect on crime rate.

Take your time.

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Mike Nifong should at the very least be beaten in a public square by the Duke lacrosse team.

And I don't need facts or stats, if you execute somebody who's been caught driving drunk seven times, it deters her from killing somebody with her car, because she's dead and not driving it. That's my point. Executing her (or jailing her until she dies) is clearly the only thing that's going to stop her from driving a car. What else can you do?

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And I don't need facts or stats,

Of course you don't, Sweetie. No go run along and play, the big people are trying to have a conversation.

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-Any three felonies

Like, for example, sex in other than the male on top, face-to-face position? That's a felony in some jurisdictions.

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Then you have the worst luck in the world.

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I don't normally support capital punishment for being a whiny pussy, but in this case, I'll make an exception.

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The one fundamental thing an alcoholic learns about drinking is that they can't drink booze safely. For the woman it's not that she hasn't learned her lesson with the previous OUIs. She just hasn't hit the bottom that might help her realize that she is destroying herself and might destroy others.

Did she have a license? Must have otherwise I am sure that charges would include driving without a license. But whether she has a license or not it sounds like she will drive anyway. That's very dangerous. Perhaps jail time is appropriate. Better that she find her bottom in jail than at a funeral home - her's or someone else's.

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Might drive me to drink too...

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Wait, she's most likely an alcoholic? How did you figure that out? There are plenty of casual drinkers with 7 DUI charges. Next well find out that Osama was most likely a terrorist or that Obama is most likely black or that Jon goodman is most likely overweight or that bears do in fact shit in the woods

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Giving a cop the receipt from the liquor store instead of your registration is truly next level.

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Agreed, that was a nice touch.

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It cost you too little. The MBTA can't be fed on what cheap vodka cost you.

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