Surprise! K Busch not drunk after all

[Jim Wilke]

No link yet but I found it on another forum and it seems credible, comes from the Arizona Republic but is not on the website yet:

Defending Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch was not over the legal alcohol limit when he was stopped for a traffic violation Friday night by deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. On the preliminary breath test, which is not admissible in court, Busch blew a .017, according to MCSO spokesman Lt. Paul Chagolla. The presumptive for impairment is .08.

Busch, who was suspended Sunday by his team owner hours before the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway, was tested at the command post at the track. Deputies also attempted to administer an official breath-alcohol test, but the machine, which was new, malfunctioned.

Then, a sergeant at the post administered the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, which detects twitching of the eyes to indicate impairment. There are six cues of impairment on this test, and none was found with Busch.

Busch was issued a criminal traffic citation for reckless driving, and Chagolla said, "The decision-making behind the charge will become clear in the report," which was expected to be available in a few days.

"My deputies did the right thing," Sheriff Joe Arpaio said. "I resent the connotation that this guy was getting a break."

[Jim Wilke]

More here:

An alcohol test taken by defending Nextel Cup Champion Kurt Busch showed the 27-year-old fell far short of the legal level for intoxication last Friday night near Phoenix International Raceway, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department said late Monday.

Busch was charged with reckless driving near the Race*way on Friday evening after he was clocked at 60 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone by a Maricopa County deputy. Busch began fleeing from the deputy by running a stop sign and making erratic lane changes.

Busch was pulled over less than three miles from the Phoenix track moments later after a second officer assisted in the pursuit.

"Mr. Busch was administered a preliminary breath test at the command post which registered .017," Maricopa Sheriff's Lt. Paul Chagolla said.

In Arizona, a person can be charged with driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level at .08 or higher.

A 170-pound male who consumes two drinks in two hours will have a blood-alcohol content of .01, according to estimates from the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Web site.

Chagolla said the decision not to have Busch take a second breath alcohol test — this time on an Intoxilyzer 8000 machine — was at the sole discretion of the deputy.

"It's all up to the investigating officer," Chagolla said. "He could have made that decision, but this is an experienced deputy sheriff who does many DUI arrests. You have to trust his decisions."

Chagolla said Saturday that Busch had performed a preliminary breath alcohol test during Friday evening's roadside stop. Chagolla admitted Monday night, however, the chronology of events he originally reported was erroneous, and the initial breath alcohol test was conducted at the county's command post at the speedway.

"The odor of alcohol, combined with dangerous driving, gave the officer the right to transport Mr. Busch," Chagolla said.

Media reports from Chagolla on Saturday said the Intoxilyzer 8000 had failed.

When asked why the .017 reading wasn't made available to the public on Saturday, Chagolla said he was still on a fact-finding mission.

"Whatever information I had at the time is what I was going to release," Chagolla said. "And it's important to note that never at any point did the sheriff's office say he was impaired."

Busch was suspended Sunday for the season's final two Cup events.

Roush Racing president Geoff Smith defended the decision, saying Busch's actions violated contractual obligations with sponsor Crown Royal, whose parent company is Diageo.

"Regardless of whatever level of [alcohol] presence was there while driving, we have some very strict sponsorship rules in place,," Smith told reporters. "We feel very strongly that those rules have been significantly breached."

Busch and Roush Racing representatives could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

link

[Jim Wilke]

Meanwhile, ISC and Homestead folks took this classy approach:

A day after Roush Racing suspended Kurt Busch for the remainder of the season, officials at Homestead-Miami Speedway announced that the defending Nextel Cup champion will not participate in events leading up to Sunday's Ford 400.

Police in Maricopa County, Ariz., cited Busch for reckless driving on Friday, about two miles from Phoenix International Raceway, and he was detained on suspicion of drunk driving. Busch did not drive in the Checker Auto Parts 500 on Sunday in Avondale.

The unveiling of the 2004 Nextel championship banner at 1 p.m. Tuesday has been canceled, speedway spokesman Phil de Montmollin said. The banner currently is on display, but Homestead had scheduled to formally honor Busch, who last year won the first Nextel Cup under the current chase format. Entering this Sunday's race he ranks ninth, 441 points behind leader Tony Stewart.

``It's not a real big deal for us, because the championship banner will be up,'' speedway president Curtis Gray said.

link

[downtowndeco]

I was kind of thinking that KB may not have been hammered to the gills because of the way the sheriff had worded the original statement. Something along the lines of "..the deputy administered a breathalizer test and it detected the presence of alcohol..."

What he said was "it detected it", he didn't say "he administered it and it came back over the limit". Drink one beer and the machine will "detect" it. It doesn't mean you are drunk.

KB still handled it poorly. It's OK by me if he sits out a race or two.

[Jim Wilke]

Blowing a .017 means he had one drink. He was PO'd. I would be, too.

It is also interesting that on Sunday, there was a lot of talk about Penske: 'Why would he hire this drunken, belligerent jerk? Why is he defending him?' Hmm, maybe because he was innocent?

[downtowndeco]

Blowing a .017 means he had one drink. He was PO'd. I would be, too.

He still handled it poorly. He was speeding. Right there that puts him in the wrong. Even an 18 year old should know enough to just "Yes Sir, No Sir" instead of getting in an arguement with a policeman when getting pulled over.

Did he have a right to be mad? A bit, sure. But by being a hot head all he did was to have the ting blow up in his face.

There's no reason to run the guy through the gauntlet for having a short temper. Heck, take the temper and passion out of a race driver and there wouldn't be many left to race! Sit out another race Kurt and let it go. Next time hopefully he'll know better.

[roadracer]

I wonder what Curtis Turner would have done? Probably challenge the cop to a race and then go drinking with him, meet some girls, and drive into a swimming pool.

Different times.

[Frank Capua]

Busch was charged with reckless driving near the Race*way on Friday evening after he was clocked at 60 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone by a Maricopa County deputy. Busch began fleeing from the deputy by running a stop sign and making erratic lane changes.

Busch was pulled over less than three miles from the Phoenix track moments later after a second officer assisted in the pursuit.

So what you are trying to say is that he was that stupid without being drunk??

I fail to see how that helps Busch look any better.

[cleanupcrew]

the idiot blew throough a stop isgn at well over tyhe limit then refused to stop for police until a 2nd squad showed up - 3 miles later

whether he had been drinking or not really doesn't matter in the least - if anything it is worse he was NOT drunk - at least themn he would have an excuse for his behaviour

any one else that drove as he did and refused to stop would have gone to jail

period

being abusive to the Cops also had nothing really to do with it - if anything they ignored his actions - releasing him with a ticket insted of throwing his ass in jail

[Frank Capua]

the idiot blew throough a stop isgn at well over tyhe limit then refused to stop for police until a 2nd squad showed up - 3 miles later

whether he had been drinking or not really doesn't matter in the least - if anything it is worse he was NOT drunk - at least themn he would have an excuse for his behaviour

any one else that drove as he did and refused to stop would have gone to jail

period

being abusive to the Cops also had nothing really to do with it - if anything they ignored his actions - releasing him with a ticket insted of throwing his ass in jail

Wow CUC and I agreeing on something.

But yes if he had been drunk then we could say he made one example of poor judgement... getting into a car drunk. Instead he got into a car stupid and now we have several examples of where he made poor judgements.

[Jakester]

the idiot blew throough a stop isgn at well over tyhe limit then refused to stop for police until a 2nd squad showed up - 3 miles later

Uh, CUC, you might want to reread the article:

Busch was charged with reckless driving near the Race*way on Friday evening after he was clocked at 60 miles per hour in a 45-mph zone by a Maricopa County deputy. Busch began fleeing from the deputy by running a stop sign and making erratic lane changes.

Busch was pulled over less than three miles from the Phoenix track moments later after a second officer assisted in the pursuit.

"near the Raceway" and "less than three miles from" indicate the 'chase' was less than three miles...and based on other 'less than accurate' info released up to this point, I'd be a bit hesitant to begin convicting a fellow based on press reports so far.

I can't agree with KB being a smart-azz to the cops (a no-win) situation, it looks like the cops are exacting their 'pound of flesh' for this behaivor, whether in court or in the press.

[Scott]

Only the official report will provide all the details, until that is available it is just speculation. What I have heard from LEO that were at the track is:

KB was observed to be speeding, approximately 62 in 45
Motorcycle officer began following KB with flashing lights to make traffic stop
KB would not stop his vehicle, he crossed the center line, passed other vehicles and ran a stop sign nearly causing a collision all while the officer is in pursuit
Officer called for second vehicle to assist in traffic stop
Once second vehicle was able to get in front of KB with motorcycle behind, KB was forced to stop
KB had been drinking, but not enough to be considered DUI, but anyone that drives like that with an officer on their tail is going to be assumed to be drunk or on drugs
KB should be happy that he is not facing charges of fleeing or resisting arrest in addition to the traffic charges

[SamC]

Another innocent victim of the random tax ticket lottery. While robbery, rape, murder, and general thievery go on unabated, because the police are worried about people driving safe and fast, but above speed limits that were not set by science. And charged with "reckless driving" because he dared to speak harshly to a cop. And painted with DUI, despite ZERO evidence of it.

A corrupt cop in a corrupt county.

See I told you so.

You all owe Mr. Busch an apology.

[Frank Capua]

Another innocent victim of the random tax ticket lottery. While robbery, rape, murder, and general thievery go on unabated, because the police are worried about people driving safe and fast, but above speed limits that were not set by science. And charged with "reckless driving" because he dared to speak harshly to a cop. And painted with DUI, despite ZERO evidence of it.

A corrupt cop in a corrupt county.

See I told you so.

You all owe Mr. Busch an apology.

I see where you get the fast part... but where do you get the safe part??

Also I'm pretty sure that just like any other race track across the country on a race weekend that there were plenty of squad cars available close by to take part in the pursuit in the first mile. If anything that we've heard is bogus it's probably the low alcohol level taken from the field test. His behavior is what suggests that it had to be higher.

BTW anybody here ever run from the police for 3 miles??

[hdolan]

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