Posted on 05/05/2006 1:49:54 AM PDT by 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...
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Was the car near a body of water?
At least it is getting coverage...
How appropriate that in your photo, Kennedy's cocktail glass is the EMPTY one!
He's really got a good grip on it too.
Kennedy looks like a psychotic Conan O'Brian!
ping
Oh, but look, he has his ballpoint pen at the ready - to sign autographs - or fill out police reports.
Looks like he writes with it in his fist just like in the pic - see April police report here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1627052/posts?page=53#53
Looks like he got his hands on some cheap red hair dye, or perhaps he dumped it on his head then drank the rest of the bottle.
...Patrick Kennedy and his siblings sought permanent guardianship over their mother after she was found passed out on a Boston sidewalk in March with a concussion and broken shoulder...
Only comment I can make, is that at least he appears to
be wearing his lapel pin.
Thats the one and only positive comment I will ever make
about a Lib from the N/E, or a Kennedy.
No Blood Alcohol Test?
This is pure BC !
But am I surprised, NO !
Late for a vote.....damn...why didn't I think of that????
I truly believe that the Kennedy clan must have done too much inner-breeding throughout the centuries. Many of them are rather odd and unbalanced.
During the investigation they need to check the bank accounts of all Capital Police that were on duty that night/morning relating to unusual, unexplained suspicious deposits.
Seems odd. Kennedy and sobriety in the same sentence?
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