Celebrity Arrest Round Up
As the award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon was arrested on April 19 for disorderly conduct in Georgia, she supposedly told the officer who arrested her that he would be on the national news. However, that didn’t seem to deter the state trooper from taking her and her husband, who was accused of drunk driving, into custody.
Witherspoon’s lawyer arranged a deal whereby she will attend a pre-trial intervention program so that she doesn’t have a conviction on her record, according to court personnel. She has about 30 days to comply with the program requirements. However, her embarrassment at the circumstances surrounding the arrest affected publicity events she had planned. She cancelled interviews scheduled for an upcoming movie although she did attend the film’s premiere on April 21.
At the time of her arrest, she was in Georgia working on a movie. Her husband was stopped for a DUI near Atlanta after the trooper saw him veering out of his lane. She allegedly told the trooper that she didn’t think he was a real law enforcement officer. He told her to stay in the car, but she got out of the vehicle and allegedly told him she had the right to do so since she was an American citizen.
The officer reported that her husband’s eyes were red, and his clothing seemed in disarray. A breath test registered .139 percent, significantly higher than the legal limit of .08 percent for DUI.
The couple’s car was impounded, and they were transported to jail where they spent the night. They were bailed out of jail the next morning.
After Witherspoon realized some of the things she said, she expressed her deep remorse. She added that she was afraid for her husband but said she should not have been so rude to the trooper. She apologized for her actions.
Two officers arrested well-known NBC Sunday Night Football announcer on Friday night around 6:30pm in Santa Monica. Al Michaels was pulled over by law enforcement who apparently watched him make an illegal U-turn on Michigan Ave. When the officers noticed slurred speech and the smell of alcohol, they performed a sobriety test and charged 68 year old Michaels with suspicion of misdemeanor DUI. His court date is set in May.
Michaels is a legendary sportscaster known across the country for his “in the moment” remarks. Everyone remembers when he yelled out while broadcasting the 1980 Winter Olympics, “Do you believe in miracles?” as the U.S. hockey team was miraculously winning the game. He is a legend in play-by-play commentary and a hero to sports fans.
Santa Monica is typically a quiet resort town in south Los Angeles County with a population of approximately 91,000. Santa Monica Police Department has been working diligently for the past six years in an effort to make the streets safe by reducing the number of DUI/DWI drivers. Their message to all drivers is that Santa Monica is not a place to come and play.
Officers are diligently arresting those who violate the law, whether they are superstars or not, and law enforcement is not playing favorites when it comes to violating the law.
Since 2007, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reported that traffic fatalities from DUI accidents has declined by 23 percent, and traffic fatalities as a whole are the lowest they have been since 1953 in Santa Monica.
California has serious penalties for driving while intoxicated. Fines start at $1400 to $2600 for the first offense, suspension of driver’s license for one month to 10 months, taking a defensive driving course or DUI classes, and these apply only if there was no accident involved. These penalties come straight from the judge, but most offenders will also pay legal fees, higher insurance and miss days from work, so driving while intoxicated or distracted is never the right choice.
