Police say they were prevented from giving Kennedy a sobriety test

The Mercury News ^ | May. 05, 2006 | Richard Sisk and Michael McAuliff

[beaversmom]

WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy wrecked his car in an early morning accident on Capitol Hill Thursday, and police say supervisors stopped them from giving him a sobriety test.

Two police union officials, who were not at the scene, complained that the Rhode Island congressman and son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., looked like he'd been drinking after crashing into a barrier near the Capitol building at 2:45 a.m.

"The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering," Officer Greg Baird, the acting head of the Capitol police union, wrote in a letter to his boss, according to the newspaper Roll Call.

Lou Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Kennedy looked intoxicated.

"It's my understanding that he had an odor of alcohol about him and he was unsteady on his feet," Cannon said.

Kennedy, who has a history of substance abuse and depression, admitted to the car accident, but denied he had been drinking.

"I was involved in a traffic incident last night," said the 38-year-old. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."

Late Thursday night, Kennedy put out a second statement saying he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Baird complained in his letter to acting Capitol police Chief Christopher McGaffin that Kennedy and a pair of sergeants thwarted any proper investigation.

When cops first approached, he "declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote," Baird's letter says. "The House had adjourned nearly three hours before this incident."

It was unclear if Kennedy raised the voting issue intentionally to avoid being detained and tested, because Capitol Hill lawmakers get a legal...

[I still care]

I feel sorry for the police that noted there was a smell of alcohol about the man.

He's going to be hounded now from libs that will attack him mercilessly.

It's a subjective statement and he has no proof to back him up. So they will tear him apart.

[johnny7]

'Whatta douche...

[johnny7]

Joan had a lot of reasons to drink... her sniveling excuse for a son has none. He's a weak man... and a disgrace to his office by not admitting his 'problem'.

[Solamente]

It's the double whammy when both parents are drunks, and that's talkin' from real experience!

[AliVeritas]

Check the tidal basin.
All courtesy of the wonderful world of http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005132.htm

From Howie Carr

WRKO talk show host Howie Carr has a police report from a separate Pat Kennedy car crash two weeks ago:

http://www.howiecarr.com/

Check out Rep. Kennedy's handwriting!

Jason Smith compares that scrawl with Kennedy's normal penmanship:

Full police report here (http://rope.wrko-am.fimc.net/bulger/042506_accident.pdf). Reader Gene e-mails:

Good grief, I just read the police / accident report from the Kennedy accident in Rhode Island. Some observations: Kennedy was clearly the "at fault" driver, he turned left directly into the path of an on-coming car. Did he get cited? Can't tell. Both operators filled out a statement. The other driver's is detailed (15 lines of fairly small printing) and looks ordinary. Kennedy's is so scribbled it cannot even be said that it looks like a child. It is very short (2 1/2 lines of larger "printing"), few of the words can even be read, and the writing goes all over the place (up - down - sideways). In spite of what the officer wrote, there is no way an unimpaired person writes like that. Kennedy can't even legibly write his name or address, let alone the narrative details. Saturday morning at 10:00 am - anyone impaired at that time of the morning has a REAL problem. Kennedy's vehicle is owned by "Friends of Patrick Kennedy, Inc." Hum, he doesn't even own the car he drives in this home state? When and to whom did Kennedy report the details of this accident in which he crashed into a member of the public? How much delay was there before he reported it and why would he delay the reporting? What's good for the VP goose is good for the Congressman gander. The other operator is insured by USAA, meaning he has some military connection - active - Reserve, Guard or retired.

Fausta at The Bad Hair Blog notes something important about Kennedy's claim that he was late to a vote: http://badhairblog.blogspot.com/2006/05/another-kennedy-car-crash.html

Late to a vote? One would think that answer showed he was drunk, but he was claiming something else: More like claiming diplomatic Constitutional immunity. United States Constitution,

Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

Patrick claims he no alcohol prior to the incident.

And if he did, it sure didn't affect his memory of the Constitution.

[PeteB570]

Now everybody reading this here on FR knows this would be front page news and a large scandal if it were any Republican.

Since its a D-rat the MSM says "Nothing to see here, move along."

[ClaireSolt]

What an opportunity! Does he have an opponent in Nov? Two wrecks in a month. whew.

[Shimmer128]

I'm sure he had a stock answer in case of being detained. What do you want to bet he would ALWAYS be "on the way to a vote"
I'll bet he practiced in front of a mirror!

[ProCivitas]

A family of criminal low-lifes posing as their betters.

[mewzilla]

Was the car near a body of water?

Well, according to this morning's Boston Herald, Kennedy spent part of that evening at a local watering hole...

[bvw]

Where they serve water and Ambien. Right-o.

[Izzy Dunne]

Holy car crash, Batman!

Look at the rap sheet on this clown: (the following links probably do not work)

Controversies

• Kennedy has acknowledged being treated for cocaine use during his teenage years.[2]

• In 2000, Kennedy was accused of pushing a security guard at LAX. City prosecutors ultimately decided not to bring criminal charges against him and he paid an undisclosed civil settlement to the alleged victim almost two years later.[3] His critics have called this incident a "triple hate crime", as the security guard was an elderly black woman.[4]

• In 2000, Atlantic Navigation Company of Mystic, CT, claimed that a boat they rented to Kennedy was found abandoned off Martha's Vineyard and required $28,000 to repair. [5]

• In 2000, the Coast Guard was dispatched to Kennedy's yacht after he and his date became embroiled in an argument on his yacht off Martha's Vineyard.[6]

• In 2003, drew fire from his critics when he declared that "I have never worked a [bleeping] day in my life." [7]

• On May 4, 2006, Kennedy crashed his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill. Officers at the scene said that Kennedy appeared intoxicated and was visibly staggering, but Kennedy claimed that he was merely disoriented from prescription medications Ambien and Phenergan. He also stated to officers that he was "late for a vote", however the last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier. The standard procedural sobriety test was not administered and Kennedy was driven home by an officer.[8]

[PGalt]

Another example of an anti-truth member of The Democratic Crime Syndicate.

[Izzy Dunne]

Late Thursday night, Kennedy put out a second statement saying he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Hey Rhode Islanders - WAKE THE HELL UP!

Do you really want your rep to be taking sleeping pills BEFORE HE GOES TO VOTE ??

[mewzilla]

FNC's Dr. Manny was on, and I think he found the explanation bit too "textbook". The doc also had a prob with the cops not taking Kennedy to the ER since Kennedy could've been experiencing a problem with his medications. And the doc also seemed to think it was a bit odd that the two meds were prescribed together/concurrently since the anti-nausea med is pretty sedating on its own.

[mewzilla]

Do you really want your rep to be taking sleeping pills BEFORE HE GOES TO VOTE ??

Or getting behind the wheel...

[Toespi]

Dad was 37, Patrick is 38. Maybe it is some kind of bizarre Kennedy ritual or rite of passage.

[bvw]

Are we waiting for young Pat to become a killer by car accident while driving impaired, before he's taken to account? As many others point out, and are right -- most people would have been arrested, cuffed, fined and lost their licenses just for that one instance in DC, if not also the one a few weeks back in Rhode Island.

[mewzilla]

Especially since this is his second accident in a month.

[elcid1970]

"..then drank the rest of the bottle."

ROLFMAO!!