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Maine man faces OUI charge atop Zamboni – Boston.com — How is being drunk on a Zamboni inside a building constitute “drunk driving?” This is police state BS.
A Portland man faces a drunken driving charge after police found him aboard an idling Zamboni inside the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Police and firefighters were alerted by an alarm at about 2 a.m. Tuesday that somebody was inside the arena, which is home to the Portland Pirates hockey team.
Police officers discovered 22-year-old Adam Patterson attempting to operate the Zamboni, which had crashed into a wall inside the civic center’s storage area.
Found by Tim Gilman.
Maine is the only place I know of that has OUI (Operating Under the Influence) rather than DUI. I suspect that is why the Zamboni would fit their laws. It might not be driving, but it is operating.
I have heard of numerous people caught driving a Zamboni under the influence, but they were caught on the ROAD. I suppose if the state owns the roads, then any state owned property might count as a public road even if it is inside a building.
Considering people have been arrested for DUI while sleeping in a parked car they had not driven, yet had the keys at hand, I can’t say it is surprising but I would expect it to be challenged in court.
Isn’t it true that one does not need a license to drive on private property?
Once you understand the specifics of OUI versus DUI (Operating vs Driving) this makes perfect sense.
I also think there should be greater concern for merely being drunk in public (also a crime everywhere) and operating a machine in public.
I think the same charge, for the same reason, could apply to the surgeon. Putting other people at risk should always be a crime.
It is called Disorderly Conduct.The law should be used for all this crap.Talking on a cellphone while driving,Drunk in public etc.The proliferation of laws is just our “law makers”pretending to govern and protect us.Every law introduced should be looked at carefully to see if the bad behavior is already covered by existing statutes.
#5, bill,
You make a good point. The problem is that there are often loopholes or technicalities that would render a specific act immune under the existing law(s). Other times a Judge finds the law doesn’t apply in that specific case or might even be unconstitutional.
He was drunk and he had been driving. I suspect that they could have charged him with several other crimes like vandelism.
“Police say Patterson appeared to be intoxicated, and that he had also operated two fork lifts and damaged a sprinkler system, interior walls and a hockey net. Patterson was charged with operating under the influence, burglary, criminal mischief and violation of bail conditions.”
It appears this person broke in to the Civic Center. More than likely the police wanted to charge him with everything they could even remotely justify in order to make it harder for him to make bail.
I agree that the OUI is quite a reach. The criminal mischief charge would seem to cover the Zamboni.
Here is the updated blog entry. Please use this post from now on when posting to your blogs:
Stop Drunk Driving Now’s President and Founder, Ron Bellanti, gives high school students the cold hard facts on drunk driving. Ron is dedicated to helping teenagers realize the consequences of drunk driving and have them make the right decisions as well. Learn more about drunk driving prevention, statistics and how to get your school involved at http://www.stopddnow.com
Recently, Ron spoke at Londonderry High School in Londonderry, New Hampshire educating students on the perils of drunk driving. Read more on what the Derry News thought of the drunk driving prevention event.