News Velazquez DUI
posted by on October 18 at 17:10 PM
Our news intern Brian Slodysko checked out Velazquez’s police report.
According to the Velazquez DUI police report, at 11:30 pm, police witnessed Velazquez driving her Volvo station wagon 20 mph over the speed limit along NW Market St. in Ballard. They also observed her drifting around in her lane and crossing the road’s centerline.
After pulling her over, the report indicates that the officer “detected the signs of alcohol intoxication.” After failing roadside sobriety tests, Velazquez was arrested on suspicion of DUI. There was a female passenger with Velazquez who had “also been drinking alcohol.” This passenger arranged her own ride home.
At the police station, Velazquez refused to take a breathalizer test (asked three times) and eventually, after some wrangling, signed the implied consent form which means she will lose her license for a year.
Velazquez requested a lawyer. The report states that she spent the next 15 minutes on the phone, after which the she was asked to hang up. She made two more phone calls, before the officer made her put the phone down.
The officer later drove Velazquez home.
I can't come up with something snarky to say about the cell phone
Has a background check been run on Harrel? Does Venus have anything from her Jersey days?
That's not exactly what the police report says (you should link to the .PDF), but I suppose not a bad summary from an intern.
Wait, was that link always there...
A different officer drove her home. Not "the officer." The officer would refer to the arresting officer that was mentioned throughout your post.
God I'm bored.
Josh,
Where's your outrage? Wasn't her greater sin not riding TRANSIT??? Instead she was creating CARBONS.
What's wrong with you people??
Maybe the officer was a Christian conservative.
Wait.
This is Ballard, right?
That's normal driving.
At least it was when I lived there in the 90s.
You know, Ballard - seat belts hanging out the doors, people parking any which way, that kind of thing.
But, yeah, she should have taken the 44.
Sorry Will, if she'd had her left-turn blinker on for four blocks and her seat belt hanging out the door, THEN it would have been considered "normal Ballard driving", and the SPD probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.
And I hear Jim McDermott has a copy of the cell phone conversations.
Is that snarky enough?
dammit!
and all this because she did not blow the cop
Venus, hardly
Josh,
You need to follow the Venus story with a question for the Police Guild: are they withdrawing their endorsement of Venus?
She didn't have her ID and the cops took a credit card and checked to see if she had a valid license?
Is this standard procedure?
I'm so confused. I depend on the SECB to guide all my civic decisions... Venus (tainted, but very human), or no-vote? Please advise. The completion of my absentee ballot hangs in the balance.
'Ballard driver' is still a common term in my household. Venus just should have stayed in Ballard and camped it out at the so-called 24-hour Corner (Walgrens, Safeway, gas station, Denny's (soon to be gone)). The bowling alley is not far either!
Totally off topic, but @14, are you related to the Lloyd Cooney of KIRO TV and by extension, Bonneville Broadcasting, and by further extension, KSL TV in Salt Lake? If so we need to talk...
yes, Lloyn Cooney at KIRO 7, station manager, in 1979 - them most infamous homophobe in Seattle history.
Cooney was on the air over and over supporting the yes vote to take back Seattle's anti discrimination laws, the famed Intitiative 13 campaign.
Queers won bit time, the bigots lost, Cooney was a stupid ass, and KING TV cemented a gay audience forever.
I liked the interview on king5 where she said she made the decision that she was not intoxicated and that's why she was out driving ...
oh... kay...
First thing you should do when you're facing potential criminal charges?
Stop talking.
The PI quotes her as saying she was impaired, and her written press release says she was not. Then there's 9 citations in 13 years, most dismissed, including 5 for no insurance. It's a record nearly as bad as Erica Barnett. It also shows a similar stubborn beating of her head against the same wall expecting the results to change. A person should start to learn after the third ticket for the same thing.
My reaction is to be unsympathetic to somebody who is that sloppy. There's nothing seriously wrong with the Harrell guy right?
I've had conversations with Venus about her positions on various issues and am impressed by her very sharp mind and incisive decision-making capabilities. I was also impressed with her very forceful and positive attitude and very high self worth. All positive attributes, to be sure. They can, though, sometimes lead one to believe oneself when one says to oneself "I'm sober enough to drive myself and my manager home." She also probably added, "besides, which, this is Ballard, nothing ever happens here so I'm safe even if I weave now and then." If that's the case, I can perfectly believe Venus when she says she believed she was capable, literally and legally, of driving safely. It seems to have turned south, though.
In general you'd want to turn down the breath test, but if she really only had two drinks over dinner as she claims then either she's an imbecile or she was drunk. If she only had two drinks she should have taken the chance at a negative test. That's just obvious, given that her whole campaign was at stake. So either she was too drunk to make a good decision or/and too drunk to have a prayer at a negative breath test. Either way that's not two-drinks drunk.
In general, you turn down the field breath test, but you should always take the breath test given to you at the police station. Always. Should you be convicted, if you refused the breath test at the station, then your penalties will be more severe.
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