David Dolan, 48, is not your typical DUI suspect. He is not only a Colorado State Patrol trooper with 21 years of service but he was driving a marked patrol car when pulled over by police.
Drivers had complained about a patrol car driving recklessly and officers stopped Dolan on Interstate 25. He was in uniform at the time.
He was also booked on prohibited use of weapons in addition to DUI. The former charge is due to the fact that he was carrying his service weapon at the time.
For the full story, click here.
I found a very successful blog site
There is not one valid excuse for Mr. Dolans actions. I’m sure there are many who have been convicted of DUI that have had stories of woe and hardship in their lives, some possibly worse than Mr. Dolan’s, that may have caused them to drink and drive but were convicted anyway as pariah’s in society and had their lives ruined. I have heard nothing in the media from Colorado M.A.D.D. on this case or the many others perpetuated by Governemnt officials in Colorado. Yes, there are others. Seems like M.A.D.D. only gets involved if it’s Joe Blow citizen or a minority getting charged with DUI. That is called hypocracy. The other three other recent cases of Government officials, one being a former official, getting away with DUI and one awaiting trial for DUI within the last two years are, John Newsome 4th Judicial District Attorney, Jim Wilson 22nd Judicial District Attorney and Mary Lou Makepeace former Colorado Springs Mayor and now head of the Gay and Lesbian Fund. Look up these folks on Google and attach the word “Alcohol” or “DUI”. Governor Ritter wouldn’t even comment on them. Not a surprise since he is a former D.A. himself. Now we have Mr. Dolan. This problem is bigger than just Mr. Dolan’s mental state, which is going to be the pity party of this case . It’ seems to be a common problem in Colorado Government that they think they are ABOVE the law. It would send a powerful message to the citizens of Colorado if these people were/are charged, convicted to the fullest extent of the law, and/or fired from their positions for drinking and driving to say to the citizens of Colorado, “If we charge and convict our own in Government for drinking and driving, we won’t think twice about you” which is a stronger message to send to its citizens. I’ve seen hard working, good people who made one poor judgement to drink and drive one time in their life, have their lives ruined, loss of employment, finances and bankruptcy. Those caught in Colorado Government , who really should know better, should be treated no different.
Gingerbaker, good point
I can remember picking up the local paper after this happened and it is just so unreal it took so long to solove and that it was solved:
Questions continue despite arrests in case of five teens killed in Newark
By Joan Whitlow
March 24, 2010, 5:00AM
Tim Farrell/The Star-LedgerDet. Donald Stokes and Det. Everett Hairston of the Newark Police Department look through the files of the five boys who disappeared without a trace in 1978, in this 1995 file photo.
NEWARK — It has been solved, authorities say. The case that defied hard police work, psychic investigation and prayers: Five teenagers disappeared from the city’s streets more than 30 years ago, without a clue, without a trace.
It was a case that left the city panicked and angry and demanding answers. Had the police done all they could? Did they wait too long to take the disappearance of five black kids seriously?
http://blog.nj.com/njv_joan_whitlow/2010/03/mystery_may_be_answered_but_ma.html
The macho stance of silence in the force is responsible for this guy not getting help earlier. He’s obviously had “issues” for years. But no one intervened. So much for the brother-code.
Until JT has a chance to check the corrections page:
This happened on C-470, which is basically an arc around the west side of Denver and it’s suburbs. At one point, it’s going North\South, and runs into 285 which is going East\West.
I find that amusing.
For Byron,
This happened near some decent fishing, either at Chatfield Reservoir (which is generally too crowded for me) or on the South Platte.
BIL,
Not that I recognize, but this was only four or five miles away from the store. My wife actually saw him get pulled over on her way to drop off the the kid at daycare.
More from that case in Jersey:
Two men charged in 30-year-old Newark cold caseUpdated at 11:25 AM today
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7344768
I realize all the issues connected to this story … police officer, departmental leniency, etc. but anyone who has lived with or closely dealt with an alcoholic knows that, as time moves on, the individual who was once a lot of fun to be around slowly gets worse and worse and ends up a total mess.
I read this story and feel a deep sadness for the officer, his friends and family. I would like to think that he’d use this as a wake-up call and get sober but experience leads me to believe that it probably won’t happen.
Gyges,
I hope Dolan wasn’t a regular customer. 😉 Although if he was, you might be able to answer Gingerbaker’s assertion.
Gingerbaker, good point!
A similar situation going on in Riverside, California:
Riverside police chief faces DUI counts in car wreck
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_web-leach.201951c.html
Gem’s from the article:
“In the hours before officers stopped him last month, Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach mixed 11 drinks with up to five prescription medications, leaving him so intoxicated he had no idea where he was — or that he’d wrecked his city-issued car, authorities said…”
“Leach told the CHP he took two Vicodin painkillers, two of the anxiety-drug Xanax, one antihistamine Atarax, one of the muscle-relaxant Flexeril and “possibly” two Ambien sleeping pills, the declaration states.
Under California law, DUI is treated as a misdemeanor unless the suspect has caused injuries, or is a repeat offender.
From about 9:30 p.m. Feb. 7 to 1:41 a.m. Feb. 8, Leach had visited Club 215 in Colton. He consumed at least seven Chivas Regal scotches there, investigators say, though a club attorney previously said he had only four.
Surveillance video from the club shows him “unsteady on his feet and disoriented,” CHP Sgt. Lance Berns wrote. When Leach left, an employee was apparently so concerned she offered to call him a taxi, but he declined.”
He must be a real a$$hole – cops almost never arrest each other for stuff like this.
Twenty one year vet, in uniform, 48 years old … sounds like a sad case brewing to me.
I know that we are constantly seeing storys about officer going off the deep end,but I have to share this story which took place here and say thanks to the police for their due diligence:
“Two men are charged with killing five teens who vanished 30 years ago in Newark
By Star-Ledger Staff
March 22, 2010, 11:50PM
Tim Farrell/The Star-LedgerLaw enforcement officials lead one of two suspects arrested in connection with the 1978 disappearance of five teenagers from the Essex County Courthouse.NEWARK — Two men were arrested Monday night and charged with the murder of five teenage boys who vanished from a Newark street nearly 32 years ago, authorities said, in one of the most baffling missing persons cases in state history.
Two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation identified one of the men as Lee Evans, who was originally considered a suspect in the boys’ disappearance in 1978. The officials asked not to be named because they are not at liberty to discuss the case publicly. The second suspect was not immediately identified.
Not long after the boys vanished, Evans, a local carpenter, passed at least one lie-detector test and had been eliminated as a suspect.
The two suspects were charged with murder and arson in the case that has confounded police because the boys left behind no traces of evidence, and were all unlikely runaways, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The prosecutor’s office did not immediately say how the case was solved.
However, law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation but not authoritized to speak publicly about it said the five teenagers were led into an abandoned house on Camden Street in Newark, where they were locked inside at gunpoint. The house was then burned to the ground.
A news conference was scheduled for 10 a.m. at the prosecutor’s office in Newark, where details of the arrest and investigation were to be discussed. The boys’ relatives have been notified about the arrests, authorities said.
Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerTerry Lawson, sister of missing teenager Michael McDowell, looks at old news clips about the disappearance of the five teenagers on an August evening in 1978 in Newark.Officials from the Newark Police Department, the State Police and the Prosecutor’s Office led the two handcuffed suspects out of the Essex County Courthouse in Newark shortly before 11 p.m. Monday. The two men ignored questions from reporters as they were put into two unmarked police vehicles.
The missing boys, Melvin Pittman and Ernest Taylor, both 17, and Alvin Turner, Randy Johnson, and Michael McDowell, all 16, were last seen on a busy street near West Side Park, where they had played basketball, on Aug. 20, 1978.
Four of the five were from Newark. McDowell had moved to East Orange shortly before he disappeared.
At the time of their disappearance, police believe the five helped Evans unload boxes from his truck before returning to their homes for dinner. Investigators said the teens were last seen on the corner of Clinton Avenue and Fabyan Place.
Dozens of detectives worked on the case over the years with little result. One of the few promising leads came soon after the disappearance, when Newark police traced an anonymous call — claiming the boys were in jail in Washington, D.C. — back to the nation’s capital.
Tim Farrell/The Star-LedgerPolice lead a second suspect out of the County Courthouse late Monday night. The caller offered to put up $150 for the boys’ bail, but police quickly dismissed the call as a prank.
Detectives also reviewed lists of victims in a serial killing case in Atlanta and the mass suicides in Jonestown, Guyana. They even searched areas pinpointed by two psychics but came up empty.
McDowell’s sister, Terry Lawson, and his aunt, Helen Simmons, said that Newark police contacted them earlier in the evening about the arrests.
“We really want to make sure this is actually happening after all this time,” said Lawson, who lives in Hillside and was 11 when her brother disappeared. “We’ve been waiting for this phone call for 30 years. To receive it is shocking.”
Simmons, a Newark resident, called the news “a bittersweet victory.”
“Now is the time finally someone will be accountable for actions taken,” she said.
Puzzling,
It was at about 7am. If he was drinking he has more issues. With 21 years of service, you are probably correct.
Not enough information to make even an informed decision. What was the BAC, Toxicology results, Video etc. Driving erratic, being handcuffed and placed in a patrol car based upon anonymous phone calls? Sorry, I need more.
Why do I think Dolan is going to wind up with a disability level pension retirement at age 50 , with no time served?
Pull the dashcam video!