Drunken Driver Kills 5 in Ohio

[JakeLock]

Source

TOLEDO, Ohio --

A drunken driver went about four miles down a highway in the wrong direction before his pickup truck slammed into a minivan, killing a woman and four children and injuring three others, police said Monday.

Michael Gagnon, 24, drove north in the southbound lane of Interstate 280 late Sunday, colliding with the minivan and leaving scattered toys, stuffed animals and bits of gift wrap along the edge of the road, Toledo police said.

An 8-week-old girl was among those killed.

Gagnon had a blood-alcohol level of .254 after the crash, more than three times Ohio's legal limit of .08, police said. He was charged Monday with aggravated vehicular homicide.

Gagnon's brother, Samuel Gagnon, told The (Baltimore) Sun they had been drinking at a hotel Sunday night and that his brother left in the truck without telling anyone before their sister arrived to drive them home.

Samuel Gagnon declined comment to The Associated Press.

Michael Gagnon stopped at a fast-food restaurant just before the crash. Workers called to alert police, but Gagnon left before an officer arrived, said Lt. Hank Everitt of the Oregon Police Department. Soon after, a 911 call came in about a driver going the wrong way on the interstate, he said. Other drivers also alerted police before the crash, he said.

Danny Griffin Jr., the minivan's driver, was rounding a curve when the minivan hit the truck, said Ron Spann, a deputy chief with Toledo police.

"I can't imagine the shock when he saw that truck," Spann said.

Both drivers tried to avoid each other, but the crash ripped a side door off the minivan, throwing out some of the victims, police said.

Bethany Griffin, 36, Jordan Griffin, 10, Vadi Griffin, 8 weeks, Lacie Burkman, 7, and Haley Burkman, 10, were killed, according to police. All are from Parkville, Md.

Three others who were in the minivan were taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center. Griffin, 36, was in serious condition, while Sidney Griffin, 8, was critical, a hospital spokeswoman said. Beu Burkman, 8, was released late Monday.

All eight had been visiting family in Michigan and were returning to Maryland.

Gagnon was taken to a hospital with an injured jaw and remained there Monday afternoon, Spann said. He will be taken to jail when he is released from the hospital, Spann said. Police said he lives in Adrian, Mich., but there was no telephone listing for him or his family there.

Reading this story really bothers me, I arrested a girl a couple weeks ago for a DUI after she slammed head on into a pizza delivery boy.

The saddest part is my FTO had arrested her about 18 hours previous, also for DUI.

The accident was horrible, both cars were a total loss, I still think about that accident and shudder. I still can't believe neither of them were hurt.

I think the alcohol saved her, and the kids airbags saved him.

A few days later while I was investigating a hit and run on Christmas (that's a thread for another time, still ongoing) an injury accident call comes out. I'm only a few blocks away so I'm first on scene. When I get there the 16 year old driver (at fault) is looking at me through the blood and the only thing she can say is "I don't think I was drinking."

That scared me. Once she was at the hospital and calmed down a bit, I interviewed her. I asked her what she meant when she said she didn't think she was drinking.

She said she drank quite frequently (remember she's 16) and after the accident she couldn't remember if she had been drinking or not.

Should it scare me this much that 16 year olds in my area are alcoholics? Lucky for her she hadn't been drinking. I didn't say anything at the time, but after reading this article I realize I should've talked to her parents about her problem. Try to get her into treatment so it doesn't ruin her life.

I didn't and it's too late to try now.

I know the horrors of alcohol, I was diagnosed when I was 22. Sad thing is I didn't start drinking until I ws 19, but by 21 I was full blown. There was a point in my life where I was drinking a bottle of whisky a day. I bottomed out hard, I was lucky (grace of God I believe) to never get a DUI or kill someone when I Was drunk. I found out when I was really drunk I could be pretty mean.

A cop saved my life, as most of you know I come from a cop family, but this cop totally saved my life. My father had been diagnosed with cancer shortly before, and I, like many alcoholics, used alcohol to numb my pain.

I started drinking on friday afternoon, by Sunday morning around 0230 I had drank 3 bottles of whisky. I got pulled over while I was driving home, about 3 houses down from my home.

The cop was retired AF and maybe had a little soft spot for us active duty guys and once he found out how close I was to my house he said I was to walk home and stay there. He told me he would not arrest me as long as my car was still there Monday morning at 0600.

I don't even want to think about how drunk I was, or the damage I could've caused had I decided to go to Boise to continue drinking.

I never found out who that cop was, I wish I could've. HE was the turning point in my life. A reminder that I'd never do this job if I had a DUI (I never would've tried), and I would've lost my military career.

That night I quit drinking.

I didn't touch a drop of alcohol until I was 24, I enjoy the occasional beer now. But, I stay away from hard alcohol and I damn sure don't drink if I'm feeling down.

These articles scare me when I think about my own experience and past and, more than that, the fact that people just won't learn even after hearing this horrible story.

For some reason I would be willing to bet the officers who responded to that accident will never get this image out of their heads.

leaving scattered toys, stuffed animals and bits of gift wrap along the edge of the road

I didn't even see it and I'll never forget it.

I want to say thanks to all you DUI gods out there. Keep it up, every drunk off the road makes the rest of us safer.

[ChesCopPodz]

A broken F*&%^&# jaw?!?!?!?!?

God I hate how these drunks go and kill an entire family and skate off with minor injuries. I might have shot him. Nothing ticks me off like young innocent kids who have their life cut so short by a stupid decision.

[Valor55]

I really don't see why we can't apply the death penalty to people like this.

[RO56]

I really don't see why we can't apply the death penalty to people like this.

I believe that it's the lack of premeditation to kill someone.

Granted, this idiot made a conscious decision to drink and drive, but he didn't make the conscious decision to kill 5 people. He may have had premeditation to commit the crime of DUI, but there was no "planning, plotting, or deliberating" to commit the crime of murder.

As much as this story breaks my heart (and I *did* see the pictures), I don't equate this guy to a Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer.

[Hockey9019]

I believe that it's the lack of premeditation to kill someone.

Granted, this idiot made a conscious decision to drink and drive, but he didn't make the conscious decision to kill 5 people. He may have had premeditation to commit the crime of DUI, but there was no "planning, plotting, or deliberating" to commit the crime of murder.

As much as this story breaks my heart (and I *did* see the pictures), I don't equate this guy to a Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer.

+1


As bad as it sounds, I really feel bad for this kid. He just threw his life away by doing something really stupid.

[mxwelch]

+1


As bad as it sounds, I really feel bad for this kid. He just threw his life away by doing something really stupid.

I agree with Valor, RO56, and you as well Hockey, to a degree, but I'll add this. This guy was 24, no longer a kid and certainly he's heard of this sort of thing happenening before. There's a family that's shattered because he didn't care enough to heed the warnings of so many before him. It's not like he had a couple of beers and then hopped in a vehicle. He had a BAC of .254. Maybe we can change the law and equate that with intent and start executing those who do this sort of thing.

[schrute]

I don't know about applying the death penalty but getting behing the wheel at .254 sounds an awful lot like depraved indifference to life to me. This guy needs to go away for a long, long time.