Another DUI tragedy

[E-man]

I hope this POS rots in jail.


http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07029/757722-53.stm

Two wildly differing lives meet in terrible tragedy
Monday, January 29, 2007

By Paula Reed Ward and Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette






Adrienne Keil







Adrienne Keil was a quiet 17-year-old. She ran cross-country and was on the cheerleading squad at North Catholic High School, where she was a junior. A good student, she served on the school's color guard.

Angelo V. Rodriguez was a 41-year-old disaster from Lawrenceville -- a man with an extensive criminal record that included assault, terroristic threats, criminal mischief and theft, a man who has been sued for child support by at least four different women in the past 12 years. He has spent much of his recent past in a halfway house in Arnold and the Allegheny County Jail.

On Saturday evening, Adrienne went out with her friends, choosing to walk back afterward to the home she shared with her parents in Bloomfield.

The same day, Mr. Rodriguez, free on bail from his latest run-in with the law -- a December arrest for loitering and prowling -- spent the day smoking crack and marijuana, then got behind the wheel of a 1994 Dodge Caravan, even though his license was suspended for driving under the influence.


Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette
Adrienne Keil was struck and killed on Penn Avenue in Friendship.
Click photo for larger image.

Their lives intersected horribly at 9:30 p.m. in the 5500 block of Penn Avenue in Friendship.

Mr. Rodriguez's minivan, traveling east on Penn at an estimated speed of 29 mph, 4 mph over the posted limit, struck a curb and a wooden utility pole, then slammed into Adrienne and another pedestrian, identified in court papers as Sheldon Hawkins, 25.

Adrienne was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr. Hawkins was taken to Mercy Hospital in critical condition with two broken legs, multiple fractures in both feet, a broken left knee, a broken left arm and a torn artery.

Police were unsure if Adrienne and Mr. Hawkins had been walking together or were simply passing each other on the street.

Mr. Rodriguez fled from the smoking wreck, but a bystander spotted him running behind houses on nearby Stratford Avenue, according to an affidavit by Officer Glenn Aldridge of the collision investigation unit.


Police found him hiding under a porch in the rear of 121 Stratford. When he refused to come out, officers sprayed him with mace.

As he was being removed from under the porch, according to the affidavit, he told an officer: "I'm drunk and I do drugs."

Police said he smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and his speech was slurred.

At Mercy Hospital, where he was being treated for exposure to the mace, he said he had been drinking all day and then stated, "I didn't mean to kill those people" and "this is the worst day of my life," according to the affidavit.

At the Allegheny County Jail, the affidavit says, he told a nurse that he had been smoking crack and marijuana all day in addition to drinking.

Police recovered a bag of suspected marijuana from his pants and a glass crack pipe from his shoe.

At one point during the investigation, officers reported that Mr. Rodriguez said "I didn't mean it" and asked several times, "Are they OK? Are they dead?"

When someone finally yelled, "Yeah, you [expletive] killed those people," Mr. Rodriguez said, "I'm sorry. I'm drunk. I do drugs."

Mr. Rodriguez faces more than a dozen charges, including homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault by vehicle and drunken driving.

For Adrienne's parents, the scenario has been "a nightmare," said Jack Ferris, a family friend. "This has just been such a sudden, horrifying event."

Dr. Edward G. Scheid, principal at North Catholic, said Adrienne was a good student who was active there.

"We're going to miss her," he said.

The band director at the school referred to her as "delightful."

The school will have grief counselors on hand today, and Dr. Scheid expected to hold a memorial service for Adrienne.

Mr. Rodriguez's known criminal record dates at least to 1984. In addition to his December arrest, he pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and use and/or possession of drug paraphernalia in 2005; and criminal trespass, three counts of assault, two counts of terroristic threats and criminal mischief in 2003.

He was charged with two counts of robbery in 1987; criminal mischief and possessing instruments of crime in 1985; and theft and conspiracy in 1984. The disposition of those cases could not be determined yesterday.

Mr. Rodriguez was sued at least four times for child support -- twice in 1995, and in 2002 and 2006, according to court records.

The February 2006 complaint listed his address as the Allegheny County Jail; the other three gave his address as Alle-Kiski Pavilion, a halfway house in Arnold.

Mr. Rodriguez was arraigned last night in Municipal Court and ordered held without bond pending a preliminary hearing on Friday.

[Ducky]

Put him under the jail and forget about him.

[Piggybank Cop]

Put him under the jail and forget about him.

They got the second part down.

Forget about him and let him out.

Contempt of court; bet your sweet ass judge.

[countybear]

We could fill the forums beyond bandwidth with stories like this. It's sickening.

How many times have we looked at a rapsheet and wondered, "What is this guy doing out on the street?"

A few nights ago, I hooked up a 23 year-old with 22 arrests, (16 of them violent felonies). I have booked a 45 year old with 61 total multiple count arrests, including agg rape x3, agg battery on police, and second degree murder. My highest sequence DWI arrest has been a 9th offense (within the statutory 10 year sequence period). Here's a clue to D.A.'s, Judges, and D.O.C. - All of these cops can't be wrong all of the time.

I teach trainees, "you just do your job, what happens beyond that scope is out of your control". I try hard to practice what I preach, but sometimes I have to ask myself what good I am doing when I take the trash to the dump just to have it thrown back on the sidewalk...

I hope to see some of these 'victim's rights' programs grow a pair and start demanding some accountability from the governments that collect taxes under the guise of providing for the people's security.

Legislators and Governors, are your jails overcrowded? Well, how about spending a little less on studying the sexual habits of the snail darter and build a bigger one.

[10-42Adam]

This happens all too often. I don't mess around when it comes to DUI's...

[TXCharlie]

It's REALLY sad to have to ask this, but if this case was tried twice, on two different sides of town, would you get two different virdicts?

It would be interesting to find out

[tapout]

It's REALLY sad to have to ask this, but if this case was tried twice, on two different sides of town, would you get two different virdicts?

It would be interesting to find out

probably not...even scumbags dont like to see other scumbags kill or injure innocent juveniles. they all have kids too