Tasha Lynn Schleicher, 41, has achieved an ignoble distinction after being arrested for DUI in Illinois. The arrest of the Minnesota mother of 11 was her 12th arrest in ten states. She is now charged with two counts of felony aggravated drunk driving, two counts of misdemeanor drunk driving, not having vehicle insurance, driving with a revoked license and transportation of open alcohol while driving.
Schleicher was arrested in Riverside, Illinois after police said she tried to fill her 2005 Nissan Maxima with kerosene. They took a photo of an open bottle in the car and reported a refusal to take a sobriety test as well as signs of intoxication. She was also reportedly combative and claimed to be experiencing a miscarriage. She was taken to a hospital, which confirmed that she was not pregnant.
This was her 12th arrest. In addition to Illinois, she has arrests in Kentucky, Wisconsin, Indiana, California, Oregon and Minnesota. She also has outstanding warrants in Nebraska, Idaho and Oregon.
It is a particularly sad story of alcoholism where all of her 11 children have been taken from her.
She’s trying to kill herself and everyone else around her. How many fathers do her kids have? How many diseases does she have? Did her kids find a soft place to land or are they spread out among the indifferent care of the foster care system, otherwise known as the prison population producer? Has she ever hurt anyone drunk driving?
There are people who are so self destructive that they clearly cannot take care of themselves. She reminds of the homeless. The very fact of this low point in her life is evidence that she needs to be committed into state care. Clearly, taking away her license did not physically prevent her from driving, any more than laws against felons owing guns prevent them from buying them off the street.
Why was she still out walking the street? By her 11th arrest, at least, she should have been denied bail and kept safely in jail until she could be sentenced. Past predicts future. She will continue to drive drunk. She will continue to be a danger to society. At this point, I assume she has refused rehab sufficient times that she has earned many years behind bars, if for no other reason than to keep the rest of society safe from her. She does not have the right to kill anyone’s wife, husband, or child because she refuses help. Addicts deep down the rabbit hole just can’t give it up anymore than someone can voluntarily quit breathing.
There have been arguments in favor of no longer criminalizing addiction, but she is engaging in dangerous criminal behavior because of her addiction. I would be fine if they had Addiction Island, a sort of Alcatraz for addicts who keep breaking the law where they would get treatment, be forced to remain sober, get medical help during withdrawals, and be kept away from the people they would hurt. It could be a pleasant place instead of a prison, but under no circumstances can they be let out in the world. They need to be treated like the mentally ill who cannot care for themselves, and cannot help hurting others.
Years ago, I went to a funeral that was filled with mourners. He had a whole other life, apparently, as an AA counselor. We knew him only through work. But years before, he lay in a hospital with liver failure, having drunk himself to the brink of death. He’d lost everything, friends, family, job, health. His doctors said that he was dying and had a very short time left. They gave him very little chance at survival. I do not recall how he connected with a mentor, but he did. He somehow made this decision to stop, found help, and threw himself into recovery. He was as far gone as it’s possible to get, farther gone than this woman, but he not only survived, he thrived. He regained his health, and went on to become a very influential mentor, himself. The church was packed with people he had saved, or touched with his testimony, over the years. There is hope for everyone, but action has to start from within. You cannot force someone to have enough and quit self destructive behavior. I have no idea how to trigger that catharsis. I wish I did. There are so many people with good in them who are killing themselves, riddled with guilt over their behavior. As long as you’re still breathing and conscious, you can change, but no one can do it for you.
I hope her children find love, acceptance, and a safe place.
11 kids? No wonder she drinks. Or maybe the kids are the result of the drinking. or maybe it’s just a cycle of one thing leading to the other which leads to the other and so on. I’m being a big glib here. Her story is a sad one. Glad she is off the road and get serious help for her very serious disease.
I read your posts, and I often think I’m reading the words of (1) a child or (2) someone who is senile.
Nii, Thanks. I didn’t know anyone was reading my posts.
She should run for Vice President along with Hillary for President in 2020. Two ugly mugshots could defeat the Trumpster.
https://youtu.be/g7f6HiQ2LuU
This is what happens when one puts one’s life on auto-pilot.
Jesus take the wheel — while I mix another one.
I like the idea of torching the car to get rid of the evidence. She was not that drunk or she was in an alcoholic blackout and functioning perfectly (assuming she is an alcoholic and was drinking). I also like the miscarriage dodge, bought her some time until a blood test.
Assuming that her children were taken away because she is an alcoholic is presumptuous on your part, JT. Those records are usually closed. Her horrendous driving record would do it for me if I worked for CPS. And alcoholism is a hard disease to diagnosis, you really have to self-diagnosis. Or have other alcoholics can usually spot fellow travelers, drunk or sober.
This from the Miami Herald
According to the Rochester Post-Bulletin, all of those children had at different points been taken from her care, in child custody actions spread over several states, and all related to previous drunken driving offenses, but they were all returned to her in August 2017.
What RM Kaus said a generation ago about liberal appellate jurisprudence is commonly true of family courts dealing with errant women: Courts meddle a great deal, but they don’t protect us very much.
The mug shot photo almost tells the story better than the details of her history.
There’s a world of sorrow written in that photo. Very very sad, and difficult to imagine how a person could live with that much sadness.
That photo shows what a genuinely sick human being is. She needs mental health care. The agony on her face shows a person who has had a hard life, mostly because she probably isn’t aware of what she does. Could 11 children ask that she be committed? I don’t know how this happens so drastically to one person out of hundreds, but help her or she’ll end up killing herself down the road.
Her hard life is largely self-inflicted. The 11 children are, it is reasonable to assume, mostly juveniles. The woman belongs in prison. If she has to spend time in asylums and infirmaries run by the prison service in her state, so be it.
@William Bayer April 6, 2018 at 1:59 AM
“There’s a world of sorrow written in that photo. Very very sad, and difficult to imagine how a person could live with that much sadness.”
Agreed, and kudos for your sympathetically perceptive comment.
She’d have to live with less if she hadn’t been so productive generating it.
“The liver, ovaries, and uterus, er ah, Force is strong in this one.”
Let us not criticize this woman. Although she drives drunk, there’s no indication that her driving caused any danger to anyone or that she was ever involved in any accidents whatsoever. She may, in fact, be one of those female drivers who simply drives better under the influence, as the drinking enables her to drive more calmly and less aggressively.
In contrast, see the following examples of women who are driving perfectly sober, but do indeed pose a present danger to life and property around them.
Ralph:
Oh no, let’s roundly criticize this irresponsible mother who is a menace to everyone she encounters and most acutely her 11 kids. Driving drunk’s a disease like bank robbery’s a disease as her persistent lying and refusal demonstrates. Some folks lose their lives and others throw them away. This woman is the Nolan Ryan of the latter.
how many welfare checks for the 11?
The record I believe is 50 plus arrests let’s go check…
total time two minutes
madd.org
Back on track this woman has 12. qualifies maybe for third place.
one with 16 and one with 19 in the first 20 hits on multiple arrests
An average drunk driver has driven drunk over 80 times before first arrest. (MADD statistic. )
So my guess of 50 was off by 31
Mother of 11, 12th DUI.
Well, we’ve nailed down her hobbies.
God help her kids.
Lol