DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

NOT SO BRIGHT AWARD lig

NOT SO BRIGHT AWARD lig ht bul b award TWO DRUNK COPS One in Indiana, One in Florida, Two Wrecked Patrol Cars. Doug Rutoskey Well as we close out the year and present the final Lightbulb award, we find not one, but two candidates nominated for the prize. It seems two officers, both off-duty in two separate cities in different states, saw fit to get drunk and then go drive their patrol cars which both ended in crashes. Both officers were charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident FOX 59 reported that off-duty Stinesville (Ind.) Police Department reserve officer Doug Rutoskey, 36, was arrested after his marked patrol car rear-ended another vehicle on the south side of Indianapolis. Rutoskey left the scene following the crash, but somehow his vehicle continued on without him, and came to a stop after hitting a construction barrier. Rutoskey was arrested on preliminary charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. The incident happened around 1:20 a.m. on Sunday Nov. 20th, near Southport Road and State Road 37. According to witnesses, a police cruiser rear-ended their car and then took off. IMPD confirmed a fully marked patrol vehicle was involved in the crash. Photos from the aftermath of the crash showed a police car with a smashed front end. The police report described the incident as a “hit-and-run crash involving [an] unknown agency police vehicle.” Further south, in the sunny state of Florida, off-duty Miami-Dade officer Leopold Louis, 42, was also arrested after he crashed his marked patrol car into an unoccupied vehicle while driving drunk according to local TX station, Local 10 News . Louis was arrested in Hollywood early Sunday morning, November 21st after police said he was drunk behind the wheel of a marked patrol car. Officer Leopold Louis, 42, on Leopold Louis the force since 2017, was suspended with pay, according to Miami-Dade PD. According to the arrest report, Louis was involved in a hit-andrun crash at North 20th Avenue and Polk Street and officers later located him driving his patrol car on Federal Highway. In the report, Hollywood police Officer Carlos Diaz wrote that Louis smelled of alcohol, had watery, bloodshot eyes and was unable to maintain his balance. Louis said he did not realize he had been involved in a crash; Diaz wrote. “(Louis) continued to state his friend in the marked unit was waiting on him,” Diaz wrote. “The marked unit in the area was his.” Louis failed a battery of field sobriety tests and was taken into custody according to the report. He later consented to a breathalyzer test and had a blood-alcohol content of .223%, nearly three times the legal limit, it states. He faces charges of first-offense drunken driving, DUI with property damage and leaving the scene of a crash with an unattended vehicle or property. “This officer placed the public in danger in the same vehicle that the community has entrusted as a symbol of protection,” MDPD Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said in a statement to Local 10 News. “I will not tolerate any representative of the Miami-Dade Police Department to jeopardize the community’s trust. We will allow the Hollywood Police Department to conduct their investigation with complete transparency and have complete faith in the judicial process.” Louis was being held in the Broward Main Jail. Louis had nothing to say to Local 10 News after he bonded out Monday afternoon. I’m sure he didn’t. So, there you have it. The final Light Bulb Awards of 2022 given to two morons who thought it was OK to get drunk, get into marked units and crash then. Idiots. Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year and guys, take an Uber when you get drunk. But whatever you do, don’t shoot at each other inside the Uber…oh wait, that’s next months award. Stay safe my friends. 114 The BLUES The BLUES 115