Woman Drives Drunk With 5 Children, fourth DUI offense since 2002

[Omaha Steve]

http://omaha.cox.net/cci/newslocal/local?_mode=view&view=LocalNewsArticleView&articleId=2313522&_action=validatearticle

Woman Drives Drunk With Children
04-10-2007 12:15 AM

(Omaha, NE) -- Five children are okay after an Omaha woman drove them around while under the influence Friday night. Police stopped 25-year-old Sara Hernandez near 37th and Paxton streets, where they found an open beer can in her SUV. Hernandez also failed a field sobriety test before she was carted off to police headquarters. Police found five unbuckled children between the ages of six months and seven years lying in the cargo area of her Chevy Tahoe. This is Hernandez's fourth DUI offense since 2002.

[LiberalinNC]

1. Holy Shit!!!

[Forkboy]

2. Damn these drunk illegal immigrants!!!!

Oh,wait....

[Madspirit]

5. Forkboy...you beat me to it.......n/t

[jody]

9. I'm not amused by your racial stereotyping because of the name Hernandez and asserting illegal

immigrant.

Shame on you.

[Madspirit]

10. Ummm....Jody...

We're...Forkboy and I...are actually putting in a dig at those who think this. We aren't saying it. There was a bunch of threads last week about how someone wouldn't have died if not for all this illegal immigration because they were hit by a drunk illegal immigrant.

We're making fun of that. We don't agree with it. Go check the threads.
Lee

[bigwillq]

12. That's what I thought he meant.

I kind of thought I figured that out but I wasn't sure. Thanks for clarifying.

[Forkboy]

15. I refuse to use the sarcasm tag

So just assume all my posts are sarcastic.

Except this one.

Or is it?

:evilgrin:

[jody]

18. A sarcasm icon would have helped. n/t

[Forkboy]

13. Referencing other DU posts

I didn't even read the article,which is something I could be shamed for.

As for you missing the point,understandably if you weren't around last week,I feel zero shame.

[jody]

19. A sarcasm icon would have helped. n/t

[Forkboy]

22. I don't use it. Defeats the whole point of sarcasm if you tell people it's sarcasm.

:shrug:

[jody]

23. Sorry but there are some DU participants who post comments that are at odds with DU's purpose, i.e.

"Democratic Underground is an online community for Democrats and other progressives. Members are expected to be generally supportive of progressive ideals, and to support Democratic candidates for political office."

I understand the purpose of sarcasm but I would like to know whether the poster is being sarcastic or anti-progressive.

That's my story and I'll stick with it.

:hi:

[Forkboy]

28. That's cool...I understand.

But with me you'll just have to guess ;)

[Breeze54]

3. Glad they got her off the road!

Yikes! Five unbuckled kids? What a complete asshole of a mother!

[Benhurst]

4. Is she related to Justice Scalia?

[DemoTex]

17. My first thought too!

Scalia's daughter redux?

[gatorboy]

6. Does she happen to draw Mallard Fillmore?

[LisaM]

8. Ha ha ha ha ha

I know the INCIDENT isn't funny, but that comment was!

[bleedingheart]

7. well then there is the drunk driver that hit our car....

she left her 4 kids at home while she was getting all boozed up at the local firehall...

There are plenty of men and women out there that drive around their children while drunk...the only ones you hear about are the ones they catch.

There are also kids who are left home alone or whose parents ignore them while they dive into their bottles.

it is truly a sad thing to be a child in a family where someone is addicted to alcohol or drugs...

[SammyWinstonJack]

45. And some mothers just take their kids to the bar with them.

[tulsakatz]

11. they need to take her license away........

...she obviously doesn't have enough sense not to drive not to mention drinking and driving with so many small children in the car!!

[MissB]

21. And her car.

[scorpiogirl]

14. This is just sickening.

That woman is horrible. Nevermind that she was drunk, but none of her kids, including a six month old were buckled. WTF?!

[shadowknows69]

16. Is it bad of me to wish

that my wife could be allowed beat the shit out of, or some sense into, this woman?

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

20. My friends,

I am not going to be an apologist for this woman, but I'd say she's an alcoholic. She cannot really choose NOT to drink. She probably needs some jail time, some rehab time and mandatory attendance at her local AA hall. Among us drunks, this behavior is not that unusual.
Please do not think I am justifying, excusing or rationalizing the behavior. She needs to be accountable. But it's not as easy as saying 'I'm endangering my life, the lives of my kids and others on the road when I drive drunk. Therefore, I'd better stop'
If she's alcoholic, and I have no doubt she is, she needs AA, NOW.
It takes one to know one.......... and I'm one.

[Breeze54]

24. I disagree.

"She cannot really choose NOT to drink."

She can choose NOT to drive, with her kids unbuckled, drunk!

Not all drunks decide to go out and drive.

What she did is demonstratively cry for help.

I'm glad you're in recovery but you didn't have to tell everyone.

[Madspirit]

25. It's Important

To tell people you're in recovery. It's part of the healing. I too am an alcoholic...15 years sober.
Lee

[shadowknows69]

30. Good for you Madsprit

I know this defies AA logic but I consider myself a former alcoholic. I still drink but there was a point in my life where it was an addiction and not recreation. I pulled back from that edge. My great respects and prayers for any afflicted with it or any addiction. It can, in fact make it impossible for you not to engage in harmful behavior. More had to be done to prevent such people from driving, ever maybe.

[Madspirit]

34. I think there are some

Thanks for the kudos. I do think there are some who can pull back. The compulsion is not the same for all. Kudos to you for pulling back from that edge.
Lee

[Breeze54]

39. I understand that it's part of recovery

but don't they mean telling the actual real people in your life?

Not the many screen names you encounter on a messageboard?
I think there's a big difference between the two, that's all.

[MLFerrell]

29. "Not all drunks decide to go out and drive."

Indeed.

"What she did is demonstratively cry for help."

I disagree. What she did is sheer idiocy at its absolute worst.

[Madspirit]

32. You're not an addict

So you have NO idea.
Lee

[MLFerrell]

41. Way to make assumptions.

[Madspirit]

42. Thank-you.

I also thought it was a reasonable assumption based on what you said and your lack of insight into the disease. I'm glad we concur.
Lee

[MLFerrell]

44. You totally don't get it.

You assumed incorrectly, but I'll leave you with your smug sense of self-satisfaction.

[Breeze54]

37. Agreed she's an idiot but

you have to admit that she's begging to be locked up. ;)

[MLFerrell]

26. "...mandatory attendance at her local AA hall."

You support mandatory brainwashing and forced exposure to a religious quasi-cult?

I hope you're kidding. AA is great for the people who want to be there. But it's unconscionable for ANYBODY to be forced into AA against their will.

EDIT: grammar

[Madspirit]

31. It's not unconscionable

It's not unconscionable to lock some people up. She should be in some recovery of some kind. If you don't like the religion of AA, try Rational Recovery. It's the group I use. Would you rather she be in prison? That would help her five kids a lot. Not. Involuntary commitment is not normally something I argue for...having also been a mental patient...but when someone is a danger to themselves or someone else, there is no choice. She does not have the right to drive and drink.
Lee

[sandnsea]

35. They can choose jail

Nobody has to go to AA if they don't want to. If they don't want to accept responsibility for their disease, then at some point they have to be taken off the streets which will mean jail. That's the choice a judge hands down. Court-ordered AA, or ignore the court and go to jail.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

46. This thread has sunk way low but

AA is most assuredly not brainwashing and certainly not a reliegious organization.......

[Madspirit]

27. Another sober drunk

I'm 15 years sober. I agree with you. If anyone should be in jail it's the judges who evidently let her off every time she got a DUI. She should be hospitalized for the sake of her children and for her own sake. She could have killed them all.

No one who isn't an addict can understand the compulsion. It's sad but true. It's like gasping for breath...needing that drink.
Lee

[hang a left]

33. As a recovering alcoholic...

I would agree to some degree.

However, she must know that her actions can endanger her children. If she chooses to drive her children around while she is impaired then her children need protection.

She is very young, 25 years old for goodness sakes, how hard it must be to have 5 children. Jeez I can't even imagine the overload. However, someone must make sure that the kids are safe.

Perhaps this is the best thing that could have happened for the children and the mother.

[piedmont]

38. What's the recovery rate using AA? How does that compare to going cold turkey? nt

[Madspirit]

40. It depends

If you only consider recovery someone who never ever stumbles and falls, they have a high recidivism rate. However, they also keep a lot of people sober for a very long time.

Cold turkey has the highest recidivism rate of all. I use Rational Recovery myself because of the lack of religion.
Lee

[tech3149]

36. It's hard to pin down my reaction to this

I had a DUI back in the early 70's. Typical situation, company Christmas party, two hours sleep, 12 hours of work with no food. By the time I got to the party all the food was gone, but there was still beer. In the years since I've driven under the influence more than a few times. I don't think it was the smartest thing to do, but you have to consider your driving skills and your level of impairment. I know people who can be stone-cold sober and unsafe behind the wheel. My 86 y/o mother just totaled her car and had the good sense to end her driving career. She was never a good driver but it took a few accidents to get her to re-think what she was doing behind the wheel. My Dad was a real pro. He could hustle a big-assed truck up twisty mountain roads at speeds that would impress Pikes Peak drivers. He's still a good driver but doesn't realize how his vision and reflexes can't let him drive the same way and be safe.

I think the most disturbing part of the story is that this person has people who's life is her responsibility and was willing to risk them for for whatever reason. The repeat offenses indicate that she is either not too smart or not a very skilled driver. I hope Ms. Hernandez has the good sense to either quit drinking, quit driving, or learn to schedule so that the two are appropriately isolated.

[Laurier]

43. I was just happy to see a thread without IMUS in the title and stumbled in here by default.

Sorry about that, carry on.

(in other words, KICK)