This is a true story that happened on Christmas Eve here in Bend, Oregon a couple of days ago (see http://www.bend.com/news/ar_view.php?ar_id=3547 and http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=5827 ).
Regardless, here's what happened. This guy, we'll call him Dumbass (as it's easier to remember than Thomas John Van Acker), was driving home at about 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve. He was out enjoying his weekend, and had gotten pretty shnockered. While he was driving home, he was well over the speed limit, and hit some ice (which is a pretty common site on the roads) and clobbered a power pole, knocking the thing over.
Well, Dumbass had no idea what was going on, or that he'd hit anything, so he kept driving and a block later hit another pole, knocking it over as well (and these are pretty thick wood poles, mind you), killing the power for about 2,500 folks in Bend for several hours.
So Dumbass drove away, and probably would've never been caught (as there was NOBODY out on the road where he was at, and only a few homes that were set off the road a bit -- basically, no witnesses). However, Dumbass called the police the next morning around 10 a.m. (after he'd slept it off a bit) reporting a "hit and run" -- that somebody had run into his car in the middle of the night. He had NO idea that he'd clobbered the power poles early that morning. The police show up, see that he had large fragments of the power poles sticking out of the front bumper of his car, and he was immediately arrested and faces charges that include drunken driving, three counts of failure to leave name and address at an accident scene, and two counts each of reckless driving and first-degree criminal mischief.
Man, what an flippin' idiot.....
EDIT: My buddy had just pointed out to me that he needed to die to be eligible for a Darwin award. I guess he's out on bail pending sentencing, so there's still a chance on New Years <hehe>
EDIT2 (1/4/02): I didn't think I'd be editing this post, but it happened again. Different guy, same situation, same street, though the suspect couldn't get his truck out so he fled on foot when the cops showed. He was quickly caught and will be paying for the damage. What's with people hitting poles on that street? That road gets enough traffic, plowing, and sanding that it should be in fine shape. Stupid drunks....
regardless, here's a link to what happened yesterday:
http://www.bend.com/news/ar_view.php?ar_id=3584
Regardless, here's what happened. This guy, we'll call him Dumbass (as it's easier to remember than Thomas John Van Acker), was driving home at about 1 a.m. on Christmas Eve. He was out enjoying his weekend, and had gotten pretty shnockered. While he was driving home, he was well over the speed limit, and hit some ice (which is a pretty common site on the roads) and clobbered a power pole, knocking the thing over.
Well, Dumbass had no idea what was going on, or that he'd hit anything, so he kept driving and a block later hit another pole, knocking it over as well (and these are pretty thick wood poles, mind you), killing the power for about 2,500 folks in Bend for several hours.
So Dumbass drove away, and probably would've never been caught (as there was NOBODY out on the road where he was at, and only a few homes that were set off the road a bit -- basically, no witnesses). However, Dumbass called the police the next morning around 10 a.m. (after he'd slept it off a bit) reporting a "hit and run" -- that somebody had run into his car in the middle of the night. He had NO idea that he'd clobbered the power poles early that morning. The police show up, see that he had large fragments of the power poles sticking out of the front bumper of his car, and he was immediately arrested and faces charges that include drunken driving, three counts of failure to leave name and address at an accident scene, and two counts each of reckless driving and first-degree criminal mischief.
Man, what an flippin' idiot.....
EDIT: My buddy had just pointed out to me that he needed to die to be eligible for a Darwin award. I guess he's out on bail pending sentencing, so there's still a chance on New Years <hehe>
EDIT2 (1/4/02): I didn't think I'd be editing this post, but it happened again. Different guy, same situation, same street, though the suspect couldn't get his truck out so he fled on foot when the cops showed. He was quickly caught and will be paying for the damage. What's with people hitting poles on that street? That road gets enough traffic, plowing, and sanding that it should be in fine shape. Stupid drunks....
regardless, here's a link to what happened yesterday:
http://www.bend.com/news/ar_view.php?ar_id=3584
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