Prominent drunk ass Republican wipes out family of 4 in gruesome

[cboy4]

car accident in California.

Family values :sarcasm:

The suspect arrested on drunk driving charges Tuesday in the South Land Park crash that killed four people is a prominent Latino Republican activist who has served in a variety of government posts, including a November 2006 appointment by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the state Board of Optometry.

Roberto P. Vellanoweth, 63, of Greenhaven, was arrested on suspicion of four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, officials said. Sgt. Matt Young said police planned to book Vellanoweth in the Sacramento County Main Jail on Tuesday morning.

Article and more photos: http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/144755.html

[Horse with no Name]

1. I hope he goes away for a long time

There is NEVER a good excuse to drink and drive.

[Warpy]

9. Nobody goes away for a long time for vehicular manslaughter

no matter how many people he kills. He'll be out in under five years, IMO, and may be out on parole in two.

Sorry, folks, but death during a DUI should be one of those things that carries a very long prison term, get the guy off the road and into prison until he's too old to drive.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

13. Being free isn't bad as long as it's on foot.

These people are only dangerous when they drive. If a method can be found for keeping them from a driver's seat permanently, I'm all right with a short prison term.

[lonestarnot]

22. accck. More cold hard truth. Walk if you're drunk biatches!

But beware, I know someone who got a ticket for drunken walking. Heh!

[Beaverhausen]

2. Unfortunately, alcoholics come from both sides of the aisle

This is tragic no matter how you look at it, but I think it has nothing to do with the fact that this guy was a republican.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. correct, it may feel good to say it was

due to his politics, but nope, they come from all stripes, political and otherwise

[Th1onein]

19. HOLD up there!

I've known alcoholics who drink every day, but never get out on the road drunk. THAT'S a choice.

[Laurier]

30. They still come from both sides of the aisle.

Neither alcoholism nor drunk driving is a political choice.

[Th1onein]

35. I disagree with you about drunk driving not being a choice

After my son, Keith, died, I used to drink a lot. I used to get very, very drunk. But I never did this and drove. I think that this is a choice.

If you can afford to drink, you can afford to make arrangements for it.

There is no sense in driving drunk.

[cboy4]

4. Yes but how shocking that this happened to someone who belongs

to the party of morality and family values.

You don't recognize a conflict or irony here?

[FormerDittoHead]

7. Exactly. THEY'RE the ones who say THEY'RE *better* than US.

We say, "We're HUMAN".

They say they have GOD on their side!

I get it...

[Laurier]

32. We say we are better than them, too.

And we are, on many important fronts and on many important issues, but alcholism and/or drunk driving is not exclusive to either side, and not even provably prevalant on one side or the other, so this is not the kind of issue to try to claim moral high ground on. Just my opinion, of course.

[devilgrrl]

11. But but but it was the alcohol that did it!!!!

It's not his fault! :sarcasm:

[johnnie]

8. Truth be told

We could probably say that about any other thing we point to the republicans for doing.

[Erika]

5. I think the point is that the GOP has claimed moral superiority

and a holier-than-thou attitude.

Sad situation indeed.

[cboy4]

6. Ding, ding, ding

We have our winner! :bounce:

[tandot]

10. I saw that yesterday evening on KCRA. Alcohol was my first thought

How horrible. Here is the KCRA link:

http://www.kcra.com/news/11404584/detail.html

The county coroner identified those killed as:

* Brizchelle Ta'Corra Rice, 21
* Shanice Patrice Carter, 18
* Brittanya Metchelle Nash, 17
* Kamall Dino Savant Osby, 19 months

Nash and Rice are sisters. Rice is the mother of Osby.


--------------


He needs to be put in jail for a long, long time. Punishment for DUIs are way to lenient. They should be hit hard the first time they get caught.

He is probably one of those people who pretended to be a upstanding and "moral" person. He served on the Youthful Offender Parole Board. Here is another link:

http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/4663/

Roberto Vellanoweth, 62, of Sacramento, has been appointed to the State Board of Optometry. Since 1995, he has served as president and chief operating officer of VEL-TEK Consulting, a business consulting firm. From 1995 to 2001, Vellanoweth served on the Youthful Offender Parole Board and the Department of Economic Opportunity as assistant director of community relations from 1993 to 1995. Prior to that, he served the Department of Parks and Recreation as the chief of human resources and the chief of economic and fiscal affairs. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Vellanoweth is a Republican.

[KansDem]

12. I'll never understand...NEVER understand why these drivers don't CALL A CAB!!!

ESPECIALLY if they have the coin to do so... It never fails to amaze me why the rich and powerful--celebrities from the entertainment and sports industries--don't call a taxi when they've had too much to drink.

I don't have a whole of of money, but I have called a cab a time or two when I felt I've had too much to drink at a local watering hole. Yeah, it's usually around $25 (plus tip), but it's a helluva lot cheaper than THIS!!!

[cboy4]

15. I will never understand it either. I'm sure it boils down to the

hassle of having to retrieve the vehicle.

Of course, not nearly as much a hassle as it is going to prison.

[Hippo_Tron]

28. I save myself the fare and take a walk home from the bar when there's no DD

Even if I'm drinking at my friend's house less than five minutes away and it's 3am with no cars on the road I'll still take the walk over trying to make it home in my car. I consider it a courtesy to my fellow drunk walkers who may accidentally wonder into the street.

[kath]

14. How sad - the toddler wasn't in a carseat, and it sounds like few, if any of the adults in that car

were using seatbelts (the driver was thrown out of the car). From the looks of things, if the toddler had been in a properly secured carseat in the center (predferred position) or right side of the back seat, the accident might well have been survivable for her. Those parts of the car were quite intact. Left side of the backseat was damaged, but it is hard to see how badly from the photos on the website. Area of the driver's seat VERY damaged. Properly restrained passengers in the front passenger seat and rear seat (esp. middle and right) would have had a decent chance.
Story said there was a child's car seat IN THE TRUNK. :cry: What a waste.

[kestrel91316]

16. The "party of personal responsibility" strikes again.

Oh, well, I'm sure he has a pantload of "family values" to see him through his prison time.

[kestrel91316]

17. DUPE - delete

[wicket]

18. How horrible

:cry:

[AlCzervik]

20. the other car, wow. Granted we see our share of wrecks but not usually

like this on a surface street.

[cboy4]

23. I'm sure part of that is damage from firefighters using the

jaws of life (hearst tool) to pry open the car, but never-the-less, tremendous impact on a 35mph surface street.

[AlCzervik]

24. i saw some of the video on news10 tonight just when we started eating dinner

i didn't hear about this until late this afternoon and i was horrified when i saw it.

[cboy4]

25. Yea, I know exactly where that is. I have no idea how anyone

can build up that much speed on that road!

But now I guess we know why.

Another high school kid killed. It never ends.

[AlCzervik]

26. omg that girl Taisia Office? The one that just bought her own car with the money

she earned at her after school job? That made me cry.

[cboy4]

27. Yes, very sad indeed.

:(

[Richard Steele]

33. He was obviously doing more than 35mph to do that.

What a frickin waste.

[candymarl]

21. Not new

This isn't the first time. The Repub Gov of Iowa son killed two people. He was sent to military school. He never spent a day behind bars. Needless to say Iowans aren't stupid. He didn't run for re-election.

[Mugu]

29. Stories like this are never not sad.

Even if the offender goes to jail it doesn’t change the horrible toll on the families.

Regards, Mugu

[cboy4]

31. ***Someone must have read my thread because this is what they

posted on the paper website:


walterballin at 1:12 PM PST Tuesday, March 27, 2007 wrote:

Republican Driver Arrested In Crash That Left Four Dead

So much for the Republicans Claim To "family values."


EXACTLY

[cboy4]

34. ***And his jail intake report of charges: