Friends and family members hugged, keeping vigil outside John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for two young women badly injured in a terrible car crash early Sunday morning. The crash killed two 18-year-old men who were also riding in the car.
“Everyone needs to be held up in prayer,” said the driver’s cousin, Anisha Hackney. “Sending good thoughts. Can’t imagine what pain families are experiencing right now.”
Hackney’s 18-year-old cousin, Ramya Ramey from Antioch, was driving the car. The CHP says it plunged off a connector ramp from eastbound Highway 24 to northbound Interstate 680.
The car was reduced to a twisted piece of metal.
“It’s my understanding this was Mya’s core group of friends,” Hackney said.
The CHP says Ramey suffered major injuries in the crash and is now facing serious charges. Her family disputes the fact that the recent graduate from Deer Valley High School was driving drunk.
“No toxicology reports have come back,” said Hackney. “We don’t know what occurred.”
“This is an underage drinking and driving collision which could have been prevented,” said a CHP spokesperson. “Just an awful situation for everybody.”
On the eve of legalization, Canada’s pot frontier goes ‘wild, wild west’
George Metropoulos grew tired of the ‘whack-a-mole’ pot scene in Toronto, where retail dispensaries selling illegal recreational marijuana have been sprouting up alongside regular businesses, only to be raided and shut down by drug squads before reopening again a short time later.
“We came to Windsor… to get away,” he said.
Originally from Windsor, Metropoulos said his Toronto pot shop was no “pop-up crap place,” but, rather, something nice, with a café and even a community church attached. “I wanted to stay around.”
Sure, it was illegal, but so too were several other pot dispensaries in the immediate Bloor West area, among an estimated more than 100 others across Toronto. Vancouver has already thrown in the towel, registering and handing out municipal development permits to 46 pot dispensaries or compassion clubs as of last month.
Even in Vancouver, however, there are almost twice as many such businesses operating illegally outside the city’s licensing regime, with millions of dollars in outstanding fines as city officials ticket them on a weekly basis.
When it came to finding a new place to chill, Metropoulos and his partner Yodite Woldeselassie chose his hometown of Windsor.
“We left Toronto for our peace of mind,” said Woldeselassie.
Their recently opened CBD Emporium at 469 Pelissier St. — advertised as “Windsor’s first CBD boutique shop” — still focuses entirely on cannabis-derived products, but this time, their downtown enterprise has nothing that will get you high.
All the health and beauty products on sale, including oils, creams, tinctures and capsules, contain CBD, or cannabidiol, as the active ingredient. Like THC, it interacts with a variety of different biological targets in the body, but CBD has no intoxicating effects like those caused by THC.
According to Health Canada, “CBD is a component of cannabis and is currently illegal unless authorized for medical purposes.”
Helping deal with arthritis, cancer, anxiety, depression and chronic pain are among a long list of ailments for which advocates tout the benefits of using CBD.
Working in the Toronto pot market, with clients seeking out the high of weed’s THC, Metropoulos said he was skeptical about using purely CBD products for his own nerve pain, but it worked, and his switch to natural CBD meant an end to doctor-prescribed opiates.
Customers who wanted the relief but not the high of THC were told to try CBD, and they would “talk about how much better they were feeling,” said Woldeselassie, who takes CBD for her own anxiety and depression.
“People were coming back in and hugging me,” said Metropoulos. “It blew our minds, the feedback,” said Woldeselassie.
In Canada, cannabis use for recreational purposes becomes legal for adults on Oct. 17. The pot market is expected to be huge, but in Ontario and elsewhere the rules remain unclear. Even the implications on impaired driving laws are a grey area when it comes to marijuana.
Earlier this month, Ontario Provincial Police raided a dispensary in downtown Essex that was openly selling recreational marijuana to anyone with ID showing they were 19 years of age or older. The operators vowed to reopen but that hasn’t happened — yet.
In Harrow, Kingsville and Leamington, new businesses have sprung up where adults with medical marijuana prescriptions can purchase products containing THC, a commercial activity that is illegal under current federal regulations.
“We’re operating in a bit of a grey area,” said Peter Nicol, one of the co-owners of E-Liberation in Kingsville.
After three years of operating the town’s only vape shop and helping smokers turn off their addictions to cigarettes, Nicol and Loire Taylor relocated their business to a Main Street location in July and expanded its offerings to include cannabis and other alternative health and wellness products. In its first 20 days, E-Liberation signed up more than 400 medical marijuana customers, all of whom must be 19 and over and sign a code of conduct form.
“There’s clearly a gap in terms of service, and we try to fill that gap, in the most responsible way possible,” said Nicol. Added Taylor: “This is medicine.”
As with the proprietors of CBD Emporium, the owners and employees at E-Liberation said they don’t dispense medical advice. Customers come in, and, if they don’t know what they’re looking for but have a medical marijuana prescription, Taylor said they’re told what has worked for others and what might work for them. In addition to a whole section for vapers, there are cannabis-infused bath balms, epsom salts, massage oils and edibles.
“It’s not just about the products but the awareness. So many people tell us, ‘You guys changed my life,’” said Nicol. “That’s what this is about — it’s been so gratifying,” said Taylor, adding that the community response to E-Liberation, which pays taxes like any other business, has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
Sabrina Ulch is convinced that cannabis oil would have saved her father if he’d only had access to it before skin cancer claimed his life. Last March, almost a year after her father’s death in Windsor, Ulch opened Sabrina’s Café and Wellness on Harrow’s King Street, with Essex Mayor Ron McDermott at the grand opening.
“It’s changing people’s lives,” Ulch said of her business, which also sells pot to medical cannabis patients. A retired former casino dealer and server, she said taking CBD weaned her off pills for her own arthritis, asthma, anxiety and hypertension. Opening Sabrina’s Café, she added, has helped her cope with her father’s death by helping others.
CBD infused coconut oil is shown at the CBD Emporium store on Pelissier St. in Windsor on July 25, 2018. The store sells CBD-infused health and beauty products. DAN JANISSE / WINDSOR STAR
“There’s a big difference between medical and recreational,” she said, adding most of her customers are “baby boomers or older” and seeking relief for various health ailments, fibromyalgia being a current main one. She hosts seminars and guest speakers and says she’s had “great support” from the community.
Even when the production, distribution, sale, possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes becomes legal in October, adults will only be permitted to purchase pot at government-run stores, although it is expected that the newly-elected Ford government will announce next week that private-sector retailers in Ontario will be allowed to own and operate cannabis shops.
Medical marijuana — for which approximately 300,000 Canadians are currently approved — can only be legally supplied by Health Canada-approved licensed producers, like Leamington’s Aphria.
Nic Nedin, a Windsor-based cannabis consultant, is among industry insiders convinced that the 40 government-run retail outlets that Ontario has approved for the first year of legalization — including one store in Windsor — will be inadequate for the anticipated consumer demand. If Ford decides that, like in B.C. and Alberta, there will be some private sector involvement in Ontario’s pot marketplace, then “Windsor is going to be taken overnight” by private dispensaries, Nedin predicts. “And then how will the city react? How will the police react?”
Windsor police spokesman Const. Andrew Drouillard said the department’s mandate is clear: “We enforce the laws that are in place at the time. If we receive information of someone selling drugs illegally, we will definitely investigate.”
In other cities, including Hamilton, as soon as police raid one place, another seems to immediately open to take its place.
“You cannot believe the number of people who want to get into this,” said Windsor pot activist Leo Lucier. “Hamilton has 80 of them — it’s the wild, wild west.” Given the current lack of clarity so close to Ottawa’s target date for legalization, “the doors are wide open … we know it’s going to go into private hands,” he said.
DUI driver sentenced to 16 years for crash that killed Lyft driver
A drunken driver who crashed into a Lyft car, killing the driver and badly injuring three passengers on a San Diego freeway two years ago, was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in state prison.
Steven Quintero, 26, initially was charged with murder for the Oct. 1, 2016 collision that killed Henry Reyes, 41, of Escondido, a dental student and father of a then-2-year-old son.
In the course of two trials earlier this year, jurors deadlocked on murder and gross vehicular manslaughter charges.
The District Attorney’s Office made a deal to not try Quintero a third time in exchange for his agreement to a 16-year prison term.
Reyes’ sister and his three passengers who survived the crash laid into Quintero in court, saying he had shown no regret and was getting off easy.
“You are receiving a slap on the wrist,” Evette Roux, Reyes’ younger sister, told Quintero. “My mother could not participate today because she has not received justice. Steven, it may not be on your record, but in my heart you are a murderer.”
San Diego Superior Court Judge Amelia Meza said she would adhere to the sentencing deal.
Quintero had a 2015 DUI conviction, and Deputy District Attorney Cally Bright said in trial that he was on notice of the dangers of drunken driving.
Deputy Public Defender Suesan Gerard argued that Quintero’s severe learning disability made it unlikely he would have processed that message or formed an intent to drive drunk again.
Moments before the fatal collision, Reyes had pulled to the shoulder of eastbound state Route 94 near 28th Street to help one of his three passengers who was sick.
Quintero, with a female passenger, entered the freeway at a nearby on-ramp and slammed into Reyes’ Kia at an estimated 70 mph. Reyes, who was walking in front of his car, was struck, and died of severe injuries at a hospital.
Quintero and the passenger ran from his car, but were caught nearby.
Three San Diego State University students had called for the Lyft ride home after going out together for drinks downtown.
In court Thursday, the three described the continuing physical and emotional toll the crash has had on them, filling their lives with medical and therapy appointments, pain and nightmares.
“I don’t like to show emotion, I see it as a sign of weakness, but this car crash and the aftermath has broken me,” Jessica Techel, 23, read from a statement.
Sarah Smith, 24, said that night “changed everything about me,” as she was the one who got sick and needed help from Reyes that night.
“I owe my life to that man and I know he is watching over me,” Smith said.
She said she has dealt with survivor’s guilt along with panic attacks, bursts of crying, memory loss and increased irritability.
“I have carried this guilt for entirely too long and today, I’m giving it back to you,” Smith said to Quintero. “You can live with it. I want my life back.”
Kelly Hoffman, 24, said she can’t forget that night, with the sound of crunching metal, shattering glass and the sight of Reyes dying on the ground.
She told the judge she couldn’t believe that a learning disability could be used as a defense in someone’s second DUI case.
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Dozens accused of drunken driving arrested during ‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign
Law enforcement officers across the state took suspected drunken drivers off the road during a special “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign.
Nebraska state troopers arrested 43 drivers they suspected of being impaired during the 18-day effort. Omaha police officers made 27 DUI arrests during that time.
The campaign ran from Aug. 17 to Sept. 3. Its focus was on reducing the potential for serious injury or fatal crashes caused by people driving under the influence.
In addition to the DUI arrests, troopers also issued more than 1,600 citations for speeding, driving under suspension, no proof of insurance, minor in possession, open container, no seat belt and improper child safety restraint. Omaha officers made 64 arrests for operating during suspension and no driver’s license and issued 44 citations for seat belt/child restraint violations and 348 speeding tickets.
Troopers also arrested or issued citations to nine people for reckless driving, while 64 people were arrested for driving with a suspended or revoked driver’s license. Approximately 1,758 citations were given during the highway safety campaign for driving violations including speeding, violating the state’s hands-free law, texting while driving and failing to use a turn signal.
According to Assumpico, troopers will continue to vigilantly enforce all laws on the road.
“Our message is clear, no drinking and driving. No speeding. No distracted driving. No aggressive driving. We will be out there doing our jobs, enforcing the laws. We want motorists to do their jobs by driving safely,” she said.
Police said anyone who witnesses someone driving recklessly should call 911 immediately.
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Prisma Rodriguez-RamirezAdams County District AttorneyPrisma Rodriguez-Ramirez
Rodriguez-Ramirez was convicted by a jury in March of the two felony charges.
At about 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 30, Rodriguez-Ramirez was driving a black Land Rover SUV near East Colfax Avenue and Nome Street when she hit 36-year-old Antonio Colson who was crossing the street with his wife. Colson died of his injuries. His wife was not injured.
Rodriguez-Ramirez sped away, but turned off her headlights and returned to the scene, according to a news release. “She claimed to not know she had hit anyone, but the impact was so hard it
caused Colson to fly 60 feet into the air, broke one of her headlights and crushed her car door,” prosecutors said.
Rodriguez-Ramirez had been drinking beer and tequila. She had a blood alcohol content of 0.172.
In imposing the maximum 12-year sentence, Quick questioned whether Rodriguez-Ramirez had taken responsibility for her actions, the news release said. Quick noted that after her arrest, Rodriguez-Ramirez told police she didn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve in jail.
Actor Vince Vaughn was arrested Sunday on suspicion of drunk driving and resisting arrest in a Southern California beach town, police said.
Vaughn was busted early in the morning at a sobriety checkpoint in Manhattan Beach. He was released from custody later in the morning, police employee Nisha Bhagat said.
Vaughn, 48, is best known for his roles in comedies like “Dodgeball” and “Wedding Crashers,” but has landed more dramatic roles in recent years such as the drill sergeant in the Oscar-winning “Hacksaw Ridge.”
A spokesman for Vaughn had no immediate comment when contacted by The Associated Press.
A judge ordered three years of probation and 100 hours of community service for Renata Ford, and also issued a two-year driving ban and a $1,100 fine for the 2016 incident.
Her lawyer had argued for no jail time and a minimal fine, while the Crown had asked for 45 days behind bars and a license suspension for one to three years.
Ford kept a relatively low profile during her late husband’s tumultuous term as mayor from 2010 to 2014 but entered the spotlight earlier this month when, in the final days of Ontario’s election campaign, she filed a lawsuit against her brother-in-law, Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford.
That suit claims Doug Ford, now Ontario’s premier-designate, and his brother Randy Ford mishandled Rob Ford’s estate and destroyed the value of the family business, depriving Renata Ford and her children of income.
Doug Ford has called the allegations in the suit false and said he has always stood by his brother’s wife and children.
During sentencing submissions in Renata Ford’s impaired driving case, an agreed statement of facts presented in court said she was turning into an LCBO parking lot on Dec. 28, 2016, when her vehicle “rubbed up against” another vehicle.
After being helped from her vehicle by witnesses, and asking them not to call the police, Ford tried to buy a bottle of wine at the LCBO but was denied service, court heard. Police found her sitting in the passenger seat of her vehicle and administered a breathalyzer test, which she failed.
In court on Wednesday, Renata Ford issued an apology.
“I just want to say that I’m truly sorry for my actions,” she said. “I’ve tried to do what I could to prevent (this) from happening again.”
Her lawyer, Dennis Morris, told the court that his client has been in therapy and undergone treatment at an addiction facility, that she no longer consumes alcohol and has an anti-drunk driving lock in her vehicle.
Toronto man facing DUI charges after stop in Caledon
On Thursday, July 27, at approximately 4:05 p.m., members from the Caledon detachment of the OPP were notified of a possible impaired driver on Humber Station Road near Patterson Side Road.
An officer located the suspect vehicle, a grey 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche, and conducted a traffic stop with the vehicle. While speaking to the driver, the officer determined that his ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired by the consumption of alcohol and arrested him accordingly.
Pawel P. Logwiniuk, 55, of Toronto was charged with the following criminal offences: driving a motor vehicle while ability impaired by alcohol, driving with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, having care or control of a motor vehicle with liquor readily available, and possession of cannabis — under 30 grams.
The accused is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of justice on Aug. 16 to answer to the charges.
Woman allegedly tried to avoid DUI arrest with white entitlement
A South Carolina woman pulled over for suspected drunk driving charges allegedly tried to use white entitlement as an excuse to avoid being cuffed.
But the cops weren’t buying it and she was arrested anyway.
Officers from the Bluffton Police Department pulled over Lauren Cutshaw, 32, early Saturday morning after she reportedly sped past a stop sign going 96 km/h. According to The Island Packet, Cutshaw was stopped after she drove through a four-way stop.
After being pulled over, the woman told cops she had two glasses of wine, according to a police report. When questioned about the size of the glasses that contained the two drinks, Cutshaw said, “I mean I was celebrating my birthday.”
The police report noted Cutshaw’s eyes were glassy and bloodshot, her breath reeked of booze, and she slurred her speech. After failing on-scene sobriety tests – including blowing .18% blood alcohol level on a breathalyzer – Cutshaw gave a number of reasons why she shouldn’t be arrested.
The list of reasons included having perfect grades in school, graduating from a “high accredited university”, being a cheerleader and a sorority member, and that her boyfriend is also an officer.
“I’m a white, clean girl,” Cutshaw reportedly told the arresting officers. When asked what she meant, the woman’s reply was blunt.
“You’re a cop, you should know what that means.’
The arrest reported noted the cops were taken aback by Cutshaw’s comments.
“Making statements such as these as a means to justify not being arrested are unusual in my experience as a law enforcement officer and I believe further demonstrate the suspect’s level of intoxication,” the report stated.
Authorities have charged Shane Learn, 48, of Toronto, Canada, with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and related offenses stemming from a crash last month that injured two and left a Northampton man dead.
A husband and wife from Northampton planned to have a few drinks while out at Parx Casino in Bensalem last month, according to Bucks County prosecutors.
So rather than drive themselves, they arranged to take a Lyft ride.
They never made it to their destination.
Shortly before 7 p.m. April 28, Bensalem police say a Ford F-150 pickup slammed head-on into the Chevrolet Malibu that had picked them up.
Neil Weiner, his wife Audrey Shapiro, and Lyft driver Daniel Weingart were rushed to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital in Philadelphia where Weiner, 57, died May 1.
Now authorities have charged the driver of the pickup truck, Shane Learn, 48, of Toronto, Canada, with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and related offenses, court records show.
In an affidavit of probable cause, police said Learn’s truck struck the guardrail in the 4000 block of Richlieu Road and then crossed the double-yellow line into the opposite lane of travel where it collided with the Malibu heading south.
Police responding to the scene said Learn had “bloodshot, glassy and watery eyes” and his breath smelled like alcohol. He allegedly failed two field sobriety tests as well as a breathalyzer test.
According to police, Learn told them he drank two beers and a double whiskey drink prior to driving, allegedly stating, “It was my fault. I crossed the line.”
“It’s a shame,” said Deputy District Attorney Robert James. “Two people doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing … It doesn’t matter. You have someone driving drunk who hits them anyway.”
Weingart was not seriously injured in the crash, James said, but Shapiro was still hospitalized as recently as Monday. She has lost an eye as a result of the crash and may be permanently blind, he said.
For a fatal DUI, James said Learn’s alleged blood-alcohol level, .13 percent, was on the low end of cases he’s charged, with some defendants’ BACs more than double that number.
“It just goes to show you, impaired is impaired,” he said.
Learn, who has been living and working in the Bensalem area, has been cooperating with investigators and turned himself in to police Tuesday, James said.
He was sent to Bucks County prison in lieu of 10 percent of $300,000 bail set by District Judge Michael W. Gallagher during a Monday afternoon arraignment, records show. A preliminary hearing is tentatively set for May 16.
Weiner was a father of two, managed his own printing business and brought laughter to everyone he knew, according to an obituary.
