Well, at least he had the good sense not to drive

The heartwarming story comes to us from the Albany (NY) Times-Union…

An Albany man whom police say was drunk was arrested at Crossgates Mall Sunday afternoon after he allegedly allowed his 9-year-old daughter to drive the family minivan.

Eugene A. Singleton, 57, of Albany, was arrested by Guilderland police and charged under Leandra’s Law after they received a report from mall security of an accident in the Crossgates Mall parking lot in front of The Standard restaurant.

When officers arrived on the scene, they said they learned that Singleton had driven to the mall with his wife, Sabrina Singleton, 31, and their two children, ages 9 and 7. While Sabrina Singleton went into the mall to shop, Eugene Singleton allowed his daughter to drive their minivan around the mall parking lot under his supervision.

But the girl crashed the minivan and police arrived to find Eugene Singleton allegedly drunk. Guilderland police officer Paul Mahan charged Singleton with aggravated DWI under Leandra’s Law, which makes it a felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a child under the age of 15 in the vehicle. He also faces charges of driving while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said Singleton had a blood alcohol content of .12 percent. Singleton was taken to Albany County Correctional Facility on $20,000 bail.

Sabrina Singleton was charged with endangering the welfare of a child for allowing her husband to drive the car with their children on board when she allegedly knew he had been drinking. She was issued an appearance ticket and the couple will appear in town court on May 13.

Horns’ running back busted for DWI

This comes to us from Fox News…

Texas running back Vondrell McGee will be suspended for the Longhorns’ opener this season after being charged with driving while intoxicated, Statesman.com reported.

McGee, 21, was arrested in Austin at 3:07 a.m. Sunday after an officer saw him driving with his lights off, according to the police report. McGee registered a blood alcohol level of 0.12 on a Breathalyzer, police said. The legal limit in Texas is 0.08.

Texas coach Mack Brown said McGee, who will be a senior, will sit out “at least” the opener with Rice. McGee, whose play was limited by injuries last year, rushed for 300 yards on 56 carries in 2009.

After a DWI appearance, man just needed a drink

This comes to us from CBS6 (Albany, NY)…

HERKIMER — A central New York man who popped open a beer just after a court appearance for drunken driving has been sentenced to prison.

Eugene Havens was arrested last November on multiple drunken driving charges in Herkimer County in the Mohawk Valley. During a county court hearing in January, Havens was told by the judge that he wasn’t permitted to drive a motor vehicle while his case was being resolved.

Havens was released on his own recognizance. Authorities say after leaving the court he walked to a vehicle in the parking lot, pulled out a beer, opened it, urinated on the ground, got behind the wheel and drove off.

Soon after he was stopped by Herkimer police, arrested and returned to court.

Havens was sentenced Thursday to 2 to 6 years in prison for DWI.

Late skipper’s son catches DUI in Seattle

This comes to us from the LA Times…

Jake Harris, the younger son of the late captain Phil Harris of “Deadliest Catch” fame, was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license, plus suspicion of involvement in a hit-and-run a few hours earlier.

The 24-year-old was pulled over on Interstate 5 near downtown Seattle about 9 p.m. and arrested after failing a field sobriety test, according to Washington State Trooper Dan McDonald. Troopers learned that a car matching the description of Harris’ BMW had rear-ended another vehicle on I-5 about four hours earlier and that its driver had fled the scene, he said.

A family spokesman confirmed the arrest but told KIRO-TV in Seattle that Jake wasn’t intoxicated and hadn’t been in an accident.

Phil Harris, captain of the Cornelia Marie, died Feb. 9 after suffering a stroke in January. In comments on this blog, the outpouring of love and support for Jake and his brother Josh Harris in the wake of their dad’s death was truly touching. Both sons work as deckhands on the show, though immediately after his father’s stroke Josh had stayed aboard, awaiting the arrival of another captain.

“The boys are holding up as much as possible,” executive producer Thom Beers told Show Tracker in an  interview published this morning about the “Deadliest Catch” marathon that Discovery will air Sunday.

Bengals rookie charged with DWI

NFL news from ESPN…

CINCINNATI — Police in northern Kentucky have arrested Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga on charges of drunken and careless driving.

Covington police spokesman Spike Jones says Maualuga hit a parking meter and two parked cars early Friday with his 2003 Pontiac. There was minor damage.

The 23-year-old was held about seven hours at the Kenton County jail before being released on his own recognizance.

The Bengals’ 2009 second-round draft choice from Southern Cal started the first 15 games of his rookie season before breaking his left ankle.

Team spokesman Jack Brennan says he won’t comment until the case is resolved. A message was left for agent Gary Uberstine.

Austin cop popped for DWI

This comes to us from the Daily Texan (UT-Austin)…

Austin police officer Leonardo Quintana was arrested in Leander for Driving While Intoxicated Tuesday. Quintana is in the middle of a federal civil rights lawsuit brought against him by the family of Nathanial Sanders II, the 18-year-old he fatally shot at an East Austin apartment complex more than eight months ago.

Quintana was held in Williamson County Jail on $1,000 bail, which was posted by 9:30 a.m Tuesday morning.

Quintana was found at the scene of a crash at the intersection of Osage and Saddle Blanket in Leander at 5:15 a.m. by Leander police officers, according to an arrest affidavit.

After smelling alcohol on Quintana’s breath, officers had him perform a field sobriety test and concluded he showed signs of intoxication. Quintana refused to take a breath or blood test.

Quintana fatally shot Sanders, on May 11, 2009, while Sanders was sitting in the back of a Mercedes-Benz station wagon in the apartment complex’s parking lot.

With two other APD officers Quintana investigated the vehicle, which was linked to a series of robberies, but only one officer recorded the incident that morning.

A Travis County grand jury in August 2009 no-billed Quintana after determining that he did not violate criminal law.

APD Chief Art Acevedo said in November that Quintana did not use excessive force and that his use of force was “objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances.” However, as a result of violating APD’s mobile video recorder policy by not recording the incident, Acevedo suspended Quintana for 15 days.

Quintana’s attorney Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez said he does not anticipate that the arrest will have any affect on the lawsuit at all.

Icenhauer-Ramirez said he has not spoken to Quintana about the incident, but that “[Quintana] is going to be retaining an independent council” on the matter.

“These are very stressful circumstances that officer Quintana has been under for the last year,” Icenhauer-Ramirez said. “I just don’t judge people on these sort of minor pitfalls that they get into when they are under this amount of stress.”

Austin Police Association President Wayne Vincent said he does not think the

incident affects Quintana’s credibility and that Quintana has been “under a

tremendous amount of stress after what he has gone through.”

“He is going to have to answer to the charges,” Vincent said. “The police association is going to support him as any family member going through a crisis. He is going to face what has occurred and we will see what happens.”

Quintana has been placed on paid, but restrictive leave by Austin police officials for the DWI arrest.

Fort Worth cop twice the limit after fatal accident

This comes to us from the Houston Chronicle…

FORT WORTH — The medical examiner says an off-duty Fort Worth police officer’s blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he was involved in a crash that killed a woman.

Results released Thursday indicate the blood-alcohol level for Jesus Cisneros’ was .17 at the time of the fatal collision Dec. 11. The legal limit in Texas is .08.

Fort Worth police say they are now trying to determine how fast Cisneros was driving in his unmarked car and will investigate the crash as an intoxication manslaughter case.

The narcotics officer has not been charged but is now on restricted duty.

I guess it wasn’t Gatorade in his cup

More sporting news from the St. Petersburg Times…

Carlos Dunlap, the defensive MVP of last year’s BCS National Championship Game, was arrested early Tuesday morning on DUI charges.

According to an arrest report, officers dispatched to the scene following reports of a reckless driver witnessed Dunlap sit at a traffic light several times while the light turned green, then red again.

When an officer approached his car and reached through the window to unlock the car, the report says, the car was still in gear. The officers reported that Dunlap’s breath smelled of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot and he did not perform well on the field sobriety tests.

He refused to have his breath tested and was booked into the Alachua County Jail.

No. 1 Florida will play No. 2 Alabama Saturday in the SEC Championship game for the right to play in the BCS National Championship game.