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Crack heads, drunks, and chads...oh my!
Mark Merkel
STArr WRITER
And I thought that hang
ing, dimpled, and pregnant
"chad's" were bad enough. So
if Florida wasn't the laughing
stock of the nation already,
let's throw some salt in that
wound. Not only does the
state have trouble counting,
but it also has crack-heads on
the police beat and a drunk
kid suing them for his own bad
decisions.
Sixteen-year-old Richard
L. Garcia filed suit against the
Bradenton police department
of Bradenton, Florida for not
arresting him for drunk driv
ing.
The cops apprehended
the teenager as he attempted
to sneak into his girlfriend's
house at 1:20 a.m., on Febru
ary 9, 1999. Officer Robert
Semler told the teen to go
home. Semler made no note in
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his report of Garcia being
drunk, but Garcia's lawyer,
Wade Thompson, claims that
there were obvious signs.
According to Thompson,
Garcia was stumbling and his
car had numerous empty beer
cans in it. The officers alleg
edly walked Garcia to the car
and let him go. Garcia's BAC
(blood alcohol content) was
twice the limit for adults and
almost 10 times the limit for
juveniles.
Garcia got into his car,
started driving, missed a
curve, and slammed into a
tree, bursting his aorta. He
now has a plastic aorta and
medical bills close to SIOO,OOO.
To make this interesting,
officer Semler 'later' resigned
from the force after admitting
to a crack-cocaine problem.
I understand how serious
a trial this is because one per
son has lost their job, and an
other will have to live with a
The Guilfordian
disability for the rest of his
life- but this is absurd.
Weren't there any drug tests
for the police of Bradenton?
Can we hold the state respon
sible for this accident if it was
the kid's choice to get wasted
and put his life in danger?
Through all of this I can't
help but wonder why some-
Give me a break!
Time has been flying
Thanksgiving wasn't even
here, and stores had been
transformed into a Christmas
setting.
It's just the first of Decem
ber, and the world weeks ago
brought out the holiday deco
rations and totally skipped
over Thanksgiving.
As I sat watching TV prior
to Thanksgiving, the only com
mercials that came on were for
Christmas. In a time span of
3 hours, there were 11 ads for
Christmas and only one for
Harris Teeter turkeys.
Thanksgiving was just a little
bump in the road, yet society
jumps over Thanksgiving and
focuses on Christmas.
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Even Director of Security Sylvia Chilcott feels the strains
and pressures of the Yuletide season.
Jessie Melamed
STAFF WRITER
December 1, 2000
body hasn't asked Garcia who
bought him the beer. Legally
that person could be the re
sponsible party because she or
he supplied the alcohol to the
minor in the first place, there
fore contributing to the delin
quency of minors.
All I can say is, God save
the soul of Florida.
I was in Teeter before
break, and the Thanksgiving
decorations were almost invis
ible, while the Christmas ones
were on the way up. For start
ers, the aisles were set up
with candy canes and Hershey
kisses with red and green
wrappers, and the only visible
thanksgiving items were a few
balloons floating in the air.
In conclusion, I would just
like to point out that the world
that we live in is difficult for
people to live in and not get
stressed about when society
jumps ahead to a further holi
day and skips over what's going
on in the present. To quote a
Hallmark card, "Yesterday is
History. Tomorrow is a Mystery.
Today is a gift, that is why it is
called the Present!"
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