Florida Leads Nation in Spike in Boating Accidents & Fatalities

With more than 11,000 miles of rivers, coastlines, and waterways, new U.S. Coast Guard data shows Florida leads the nation in boating accidents and boating deaths, a trend that has been growing in Florida and nationwide since 2013.

U.S. Coast Guard Boatswain's Mate First Class Michael Miller joins the show to discuss the growing rate of recreational boating accidents, the rising fatality rate, and the millions of dollars in associated property damage for such accidents. He'll also discuss safety measures boaters can take in Southwest Florida waters. Source: wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu

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Guilty pleas in drunk driving crash that killed two

A 31-year-old man admitted Thursday to being drunk behind the wheel last September when his car crashed into another vehicle, killing two men and seriously injuring two others.

Scott Altiman was driving his Dodge Charger when he crashed into a car and sent it flying.

The occupants of that car, 23-year-old Cody Andrews of New Hamburg and 46-year-old Jerry Pitre of London, died. The two other men in the car were seriously hurt.

Altiman pleaded guilty to eight charges including impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Altiman had more than twice the legal alcohol limit in his system and was driving at speeds of up to 187 km/h.

An open beer was also found in his car at the time of the crash.

Family and friends of the victims filled the London courtroom today, listening to the devastating details.

“I want my son back,” said Rose Imhoff, Pitre’s mother.

“I miss him so much, he was my life, he was my best friend, he was everything to me,” she said.

Altiman will be back in court on June 19 to set a date for victim impact statements and sentencing.

Source: kitchener.ctvnews.ca, With reporting by Krista Simpson

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Beginning Nov 1st, ALL drunk drivers are required to install ignition interlock

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (KWTV)- A new law signed by Governor Mary Fallin will require all first-time drunk driving offenders to install an ignition interlock on their vehicle as a condition of driving after a drunk driving offense. The law requires the use of interlocks for at least six months to regain driving privileges.

The legislation also creates the Impaired Driver Accountability Program (IDAP) to help first-time offenders get their lives back on track and regain full driving privileges.

“Oklahoma now joins Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Missouri and other surrounding states in providing its residents with the best countermeasure to stop the scourge of repeat drunk driving,” said Colleen Sheehey-Church, National President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). 

The new law takes effect November 1st. Oklahoma is the 29th state to pass the all-offender ignition interlock law. Information provided by KWTV.  Source: kswo.com

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Man admits to ‘a horrible wrong,' gets prison for deadly drunk driving crash

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. - A Lowell man responsible for a deadly drunk driving accident that killed a grandfather of 17 apologized for his actions Thursday before being sentenced to prison for the November crash in eastern Kent County.

“Words cannot truly express my sorrow and remorse,’’ Michael Ray Hoogewind said. “Every day is a struggle knowing there is nothing I can do to right it; right a horrible wrong.’’

Hoogewind, 32, earlier pleaded no contest to causing the crash while driving with a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit.

The Nov. 9 crash in Kent County’s Grattan Township killed David A. Cliff of Greenville, who was on his way to work. He died at the scene.

Several family members attended the sentencing dressed in T-shirts bearing Cliff’s picture.

“Dad was the patriarch of the family,’’ Cliff’s son, Dustin Johnson, told the court. “He was the glue that kept everyone together. All we have are pictures, memories and an urn with his ashes to remember him by.’’

He urged Hoogewind to use his time in prison to make a positive change.

“Your actions from here on out will define your legacy,’’ Johnson said. “Hopefully you take initiative to change. Your greatest opportunity is now. Hope you find the courage and make the best of it.’’

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Leiber sentenced Hoogewind to between six and 20 years in prison.

“If there could be any good, perhaps it will serve as a deterrence to everyone who understand and appreciate the importance of sober driving and never getting behind the wheel when one’s affected by alcohol,’’ Leiber told Hoogewind.

“In that regard, perhaps the pain that the Cliff family feels, the pain that your family feels, will somehow have a purpose,’’ Leiber said.

Hoogewind pleaded no contest March 28 to operating with a high blood alcohol content causing death with a prior conviction. The felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Family members say Cliff, a devoted father of five and grandfather of 17, worked as a supervisor at Mollers North America Inc. on 52^nd Street SE. He and his wife of 26 years lived in Greenville.

Cliff was traveling south on Lincoln Lake Avenue when the 5:51 a.m. accident occurred. Hoogewind, who was heading west on Six Mile Road, ran a stop sign and struck Cliff’s Pontiac Grand Am in the driver’s side door.

The impact caused Cliff’s vehicle to roll; he died at the scene. Hoogewind, who was driving a 2006 Saab, was treated for minor injuries.

His blood alcohol level registered at .23 percent, according to court records. The threshold for drunken driving is .08 percent.

A Kent County deputy detected the odor of alcohol on Hoogewind, who admitted that he'd been drinking, court records show.

It is not his first alcohol-related offense. He was arrested in Kent County in Dec. 2010 for driving with a blood alcohol level of .17 percent or more. Hoogewind's driver's license was suspended in March, 2011 for a year, according to the Michigan Secretary of State's Office.

His license was not reinstated until 2013 due to violations tied to the drunk driving conviction, state records show. Source: wzzm13.com

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Dead toddler’s horrified mom blames owners of ‘dilapidated’ Compton building in broken door lawsuit

A Compton woman whose 22-month-old daughter was run over by a pickup truck driven by her mother’s boyfriend sued her landlords Thursday, alleging their failure to fix the front door of the home they rented to the plaintiff allowed the toddler to open it by herself just before she was killed.

“The owners of the building knew about the broken door and refused to remedy the condition,” plaintiff Elizabeth Moreno alleges in her Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit against Pedro and Rosa Alvarado over the loss of Moreno’s daughter, Natalia Trinidad.

The Alvarados could not be immediately reached for comment on the suit, which seeks unspecified damages on allegations of wrongful death and negligence.

The toddler died at the scene of the accident, which occurred shortly after 10 p.m. last June 26 in the 600 block of North Willow Avenue.

When homicide detectives arrived, they learned that the mother’s boyfriend was not aware her child followed him outside of the home when he was backing his pickup truck out of the driveway, sheriff’s Deputy Lisa Jansen said then. “As he was backing his truck out, he felt the truck run over an unknown object.”

Jansen said the driver, whose name was withheld, “did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol” and there were “no obvious signs of foul play.”

According to the lawsuit, the property where Moreno lived with her daughter “was in a complete state of dilapidation,” with the living area linked “by an improperly, illegally and recklessly enclosed patio area.”

The patio had a front door that was “broken and unfit for use,” according to the complaint. “As a result … Natalia was able to push open the dangerous door and walk into the driveway … where she was struck by a reversing automobile, causing her major crush trauma eventually resulting in her death.”

The driveway also was in such poor condition that it violated the Compton municipal code, the suit alleges.

Moreno, realizing that her daughter walked away from her, went outside after hearing the truck and saw the child under the vehicle, the suit says.

“Rushing to her daughter, she watched as the life left the 1-year-old,” the suit states.

Source: mynewsla.com

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Mothers Against Drunk Driving moving forward with mural plan to raise awareness

SAN ANTONIO – Over the last year, the San Antonio Police Department has responded to 553 DWI crashes.

Due to the high numbers, the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) wants to bring the numbers down to zero simply with a mural.

“It just takes literally a moment to change lives,” says Aziza Salama, a mother of two.

Salama says she will never forget the night she lost her fiance’ Johnny Hernandez in a wrong-way wreck.

The driver who hit them had been drinking.

“He would probably be very proud and very happy to try and move forward,” says Salama.

She's now a member of MADD.

The group is now designing a mural to be displayed of I-10 and Colorado to share the message.

“It creates a conversation people drive by that particular location and we want people to be aware on a daily basis,” adds Salama.

County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, Precinct 3, says he is favor of the efforts.

“It's another way to reach out and bring attention to a very difficult situation,” says Wolff.

Last July, Wolff was arrested for driving while intoxicated after hitting two cars in a fast food parking lot.

“That will resonate with me for the rest of my life. For me the biggest part is how much I feel I left my family down my wife, my daughter,” adds Wolff.

The commissioner says there is no excuse and there is help for everyone out there.

“There is no excuse today that you're not able to call a taxi, an Uber, a Lyft, a friend.”

Salama says it’s a fight to save others.

“Just because this horrible tragedy has happened to me doesn't necessarily mean that's it...that's the end of the day,” adds Salama.  Source: foxsanantonio.com

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Federal Suit Filed in Wake of Officer’s Death - Was Gasconade County Deputy

The family of a former Gasconade County deputy who hanged himself while jailed on sexual assault charges filed in a federal wrongful death suit.

The Associated Press reported that the wife of Marty Rainey and her children filed the wrongful death suit Friday, June 2, in federal court. The suit alleges that Ste. Genevieve County Jail officials deprived the former Gasconade County deputy of his right “to be protected from known risks of suicide.”

Rainey died March 25, 2016, in his cell after hanging himself. The coroner’s report says Rainey made a noose out of a torn sheet tied to a “bolt on a hook in his cell.”

Rainey was accused of sexually abusing women and enticing a minor into prostitution.

Rainey also had worked as a police officer in Hermann and Rosebud.

He was being held awaiting trial on a series of state and federal charges involving a series of sexual assaults on women and one 17-year-old girl.

The suit names the county and various officials. A lawyer for the defendants declined to comment, the AP reported.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Rainey, who was suffering from PTSD and had been deemed a suicide risk by federal court staffers, was not given a proper mental health screening, was not allowed out of the “extreme isolation” of his cell for exercise and recreation and was not checked on as spelled out in regulations, the suit says.

The county and various officials are named in the suit.

Jail staff discovered him the next morning.

Rainey had been placed in a holding cell by himself, for his own protection.

Rainey died March 25, 2016, in his cell after hanging himself with a torn sheet attached says.

 Source: emissourian.com

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