Studson: Rob4127: That'll teach him to appear drunk

More consequences of "appearing" drunk:
SAN JOSE (AP) ― A man who fell into a diabetic coma while driving and caused a fiery wreck that killed two people in 2006 has been indicted for vehicular manslaughter.

A grand jury also indicted John Mayfield on one count of driving under the influence in the July 10 crash, which injured seven others.

Santa Clara County prosecutors say Mayfield took an excessive dose of insulin and was suffering a bad reaction when his truck rammed into another vehicle carrying two 20-year-olds, Mary Bernstein and Robert Conway, who were stopped at the light. Both vehicles and two others nearby exploded into flames.
Source: http://cbs5.com/local/diabetic.fatal.crash.2.627044.html

(However, the charges were recently dismissed [sfgate.com].)

A diabetic coma isn't immunity from the law. If you have any previous history of going into diabetic shock you can be found liable for negligence and damages.


For what, hurting the cops knuckles?

I would like to see pics of the man and the cops in question, 'cos...you know...

forteblast: ta2mama: Did anyone miss THIS part of the article?

"Pamela Griglen said she and her husband had gone to see "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" on June 15. They had popcorn, candy and soda as they watched the flick and then he dropped her off at Fairlane Mall in Dearborn."

You're absolutely right!
Nobody says soda in Michigan.

FTW!!!!!

I missed that the first time I read that comment too.

CtrlAltDelete: Is Wilford Brimley gonna have to kill a b*tch?

ChadManMn: Churchill2004:
Kind of what I came here to say. My girlfriend is diabetic, and though she is also very sensitive to the symptoms of being high or low, she misses it sometimes. She can turn into a different person in the span of a half hour. Once she's disoriented, i.e. not thinking clearly, she doesn't always realize what is going on. She is just intensely pissed over nothing, but in her mind, she is totally justified in her actions. Then, the adrenaline kicks in and she's in fight or flight mode. It is not pretty. (In case anyone is wondering, the next phase is total weakness and what she describes as a terrible drunken feeling along with physical uneasiness, fatigue, and pain. When that sets in, its time to get the orange juice and fast.)

However, there is no excuse for police being unable to subdue a person without injuring them. Especially in this day and age.

I am also diabetic, and know well how fast hypoglycemia can happen, at times due to situations such as stress (emotional or physical). ChadManMn has explained well what happens to his girlfriend. It has happened to me as well, but thankfully while I was not behind the wheel. But it does happen quickly, and I don't feel I have low blood sugar until it's too late.

Anger/rage, disorientation and irrational behavior are all typical symptoms of hypoglycemia. But a distinguishing feature is not an odor of alcohol on the person, but rather a sweetish odor due to ketones. I lived with a police officer for 6 years, and I was told that police officers are trained to detect this distinctive odor vs. alcohol, then deal with the person accordingly.

I don't think there is much more to the story as it is being told. Certainly there are ways to subdue a person if the police officer is just too lazy/stupid/whatever to even check this out first.

/I am a pharmacist as well, and have dealt with this same situation in the retail setting
//People I am out with know what to do if it happens to me
///That said, diabetics should always have a medical alert bracelet or necklace

bla bla bla, kill all pigs

bla bla bla, fark the police

bla bla bla, all cops suck...


I was in a three-city chase of a suspected drunk driver. Car ran red lights, smashed into parked cars and occupied vehicles, barely missed pedestrians including a woman with an infant in a stroller. Driver drove on the wrong side of city streets, through parks, slowed down, sped up, stopped, re-started, eventually crashed into a house, almost killing an elderly couple in the front room.

Driver exited, looked right at us as we had guns drawn and told him to get on the ground, reached into his pockets and turned around, started to walk away, stumbling and weaving like every drunk I have ever seen.

When his hands went into his pocket and he turned, the four of us on scene were all fully justified in dropping him there and then, but the Sgt I was riding with called us all off for some reason. He rushed up, gently tackled the driver, told me to look in his car for insulin (which I found) and radioed for an ambulance--the driver was in insulin shock just like the story.

Bottom line is, based on this guy's actions as we observed them (including a half hour chase where he nearly killed a woman and child and an elderly couple, plus refusing to comply with commands at the end of the chase) and his turning away and reaching into his pocket, we were fully justified in pulling triggers.

Had he not turned away and gone for a pocket, we would also have been justified in high levels of physical force to effect an arrest.

He got lucky that night, and it had nothing to do with training--the very scary truth is that someone in that condition completely mimics being drunk, and if there is any resistance to arrest, it can get ugly fast. I am grateful that things worked out the way they did that night, too bad for the guy in the article that the same didn't happen for him.

Low blood sugar!

I love you too, tonesskin...

sorry I didn't have some wild plot twist for ya'...

Um how about:

"The guy turned back around and I discharged my taser, one barb sunk deep into his eyeball, the other into his nutsack, and we all took turns firing it until the battery and the guy's heart expired. It was a great story to tell the hookers as we snorted blow off their asses in the back room of Dunkin' Donuts later that evening when we counted the bribe money we had collected in-between shooting puppies and arresting college kids for personal use quantities of pot."


Dickhead.