RutlandHerald.com - We Are Vermont

Police: Woman drove drunk to pick up DUI friend at station



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By Cristina Kumka STAFF WRITER - Published: December 8, 2009

FAIR HAVEN — A 30-year-old Fair Haven woman made the wrong call early Sunday morning when she was told by police to not drive drunk but did, ending up at the state police barracks in Castleton to pick up her friend shortly after he was arrested for the same thing, police said Monday.

Fair Haven's Katharine Spaulding and Christopher Bunker, 26, of Poultney, are both scheduled to appear in Rutland District Court Dec. 21, both to face charges of drunk driving at different times.

"In a nutshell, when he (Fair Haven Patrolman James Riehl) stopped Bunker he pulled into her driveway," Fair Haven Police Chief William Humphries said.

"He (Riehl) didn't tow the vehicle because it was in the driveway … she (Spaulding) was allowed to go into the house."

Bunker was pulled over at 2:20 a.m. Sunday for failing to use a turn signal onto West Park Place.

He was arrested and charged with DUI after failing field sobriety tests and telling the officer he "was driving because she (Spaulding) was drunker than he was," Humphries said.

Bunker was taken to the state police outpost in Castleton for processing.

"Then the doorbell rings and she was standing there," the chief said. "She made a poor judgment of driving to the police barracks."

At the barracks, Spaulding also failed field tests and registered a 0.158, blood alcohol content — nearly double the state's legal limit of 0.08.

Both were released with citations to appear in court, according to the Fair Haven Police Department.

Humphries said it was unclear where the couple was driving from and one of them refused to answer questions.

cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com








READER COMMENTS


Or the Barbara Buffman school for b i t c h e s?
-- Posted by Comfy Anon on Mon, Dec 14, 2009, 10:16 pm EST

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She must have gone to the John Petz School of Drinking.
-- Posted by Barbara Buffum on Mon, Dec 14, 2009, 8:07 pm EST

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Too bad you have to be dead to win a Darwin Award!
-- Posted by Comfy Anon on Mon, Dec 14, 2009, 6:42 pm EST

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P.S. Thank you Ms. Spaulding for starting my week off with a good laugh!
-- Posted by Comfy Anon on Mon, Dec 14, 2009, 10:24 am EST

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Ashly R. makes a good point. There was a time when a cop would pull someone over, realize they were drunk, chuck their car keys into the woods and tell them that when they are sober enough to find their keys, they will be sober enough to drive. Can you imagine if a cop did that today? He'd be crucified. Instead of people saying 'oh look, the officer solved a problem without having to make an arrest' they will say 'he is not doing his job' or 'he is endangering the drunk by leaving him there' or 'he is giving special treatment to someone' ...he could be in trouble at work and even charged with a crime himself.
As far as there being nobody around at 2:30 am, clearly someone was and he was a cop!
-- Posted by Comfy Anon on Mon, Dec 14, 2009, 10:23 am EST

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PS Ms. Coleman maybe the Cops are really doing someting know
-- Posted by Ashley R on Wed, Dec 9, 2009, 11:37 am EST

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I believe all cops at every level would love to have that discreation again but this country has become so sue happy the cops are damned either way. Thank you FH Cops and all cops for keeping your streets safe. Easy solution DONT DRINK AND DRIVE.
-- Posted by Ashley R on Wed, Dec 9, 2009, 11:36 am EST

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He must be friends with Tiger Woods, he likes doing stuff he isn't supposed at 2:30 am too.
-- Posted by Dwayne Johnson on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 11:11 pm EST

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There are only 4 type of people driving at 230AM...police, newspaper delivery workers, bread delivery workers and drunk drivers.....I suppose Bunker didn't have papers or bread????
-- Posted by T. Allen on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 5:46 pm EST

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Nice job to Officer Rieh. just remember that the Police don't make the laws only enforce them to the best of their ability,and the days of them looking the other way are over because there are more drivers on the roadways now.These two were lucky that they never hit or hurt anyone that night but the next time it might be you or a family member they hit and kill or injure,just something to think about.Again nice job.
-- Posted by Born in Vermont on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 5:04 pm EST

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Well, it's 2:30 in the morning and you're a policeman out to look for who at that hour? Pretty much only people headed home from bars.AKA Drunks.

The lack of use of the directional was obviously only a reason to pull the person over to check, and in this case, verify his lack of sobriety. Obviously not everyone is under the influence if they're out late, but you should feel a bit safer that the police are paying attention.

Good job Officer Reihl!
-- Posted by Dave None on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 3:13 pm EST

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Sorry folks, I did not mean to come across that driving drunk was acceptable.
-- Posted by pam coleman on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 1:49 pm EST

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I Don't think Ms Coleman was condoning driving drunk, I think her point was over zealous local cops stopping people for something as simple as not using a turn signal. Of course there could have been other reasons why they were stopped that weren't included in the article.
-- Posted by Lee Mellon on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 1:21 pm EST

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Good job Pam... As long as you're driving late enough it's ok to drive under the influence?

Nice moron logic you have going.
-- Posted by Dave None on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 1:05 pm EST

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Pam, You are condoning the driving while intoxicated? You are saying that locals should not be arrested for DUI ? I hope it never happens, but would your approval of drunk driving change if a loved one of yours was injured or killed by a drunk driver? It does not matter where they were. Drunk driving is drunk driving.
-- Posted by Smart Thinking on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 12:05 pm EST

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Pam, it seems these days its all about money. Now there is no excuse for Ms Spaulding. Stupid is what stupid does.
-- Posted by Frank Westcott on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 12:01 pm EST

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"Bunker was pulled over at 2:20 a.m. Sunday for failing to use a turn signal onto West Park Place." Are you kidding me? It was 2:20 in the MORNING! And the car was literally home when it was pulled over. It wasn't even towed because it was in the driveway!
As a former resident of Fair Haven, and of West St, I can assure you there is minimal, if any traffic at this time of day. So how many people would bother with a turn signal? Sounds like the FH cops are on a witch hunt to nail people on their way back from Flubs, or other bars that are "over the line". Where is the common sense here? These kids were literally home when they were pulled over. Not to say that driving drunk is excusable, and Ms Spaulding's trip to the Castleton Barracks was incredibly stupid. But what happened to the times when a local cop could use a little discretion before arresting a local resident? It never used to be like this in my beloved home town!
-- Posted by pam coleman on Tue, Dec 8, 2009, 10:22 am EST

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