Diana Ross Arrested

[Huey]

What a sad situation for such a talented woman .

 

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

Dec 31, 12:02 AM (ET)

 

 

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Singer Diana Ross was arrested early Monday on suspicion of drunken driving, police said.

 

A breath test showed the pop diva with a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, Tucson police Sgt. Judy Altieri said.

 

Police pulled Ross over after someone alerted them to a swerving vehicle, Altieri said. She added that the arresting officer said Ross was polite and cooperative.

 

Ross, 58, received misdemeanor citations for driving under the influence; driving with a blood-alcohol content over 0.08; and extreme DUI, or having a blood-alcohol level greater than 0.15 percent. Her initial court appearance was set for Jan. 13.

 

After arresting Ross, police gave her a ride to where she was staying, Altieri said.

 

Ross' Los Angeles-based publicist, Paul Bloch, had no immediate comment, his office said.

 

Ross entered a Malibu, Calif., drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in May to deal with what Bloch at the time said were personal issues.

[taylorky]

>What a sad situation for such a talented woman .

>

>-----------------------------------------

>Dec 31, 12:02 AM (ET)

 

>After arresting Ross, police gave her a ride to where she was

>staying, Altieri said.

 

>

>

>

her old drunk ass should have been put in the drunk tank! she was a danger to anyone on the roads........and should have been treated the same as any other slobbery ass drunk driver.........taylorky@02:23-12/31/02

[Guest]

> her old drunk ass should have been put in the drunk tank!

>she was a danger to anyone on the roads........and should have

>been treated the same as any other slobbery ass drunk

>driver

 

Amen to that! I'm sorry, but driving with 0.2% alcohol level! What a fucking asshole! x( I'm sick and tired of god damned celebrities who think they're above the law and don't give a rat's ass about human life!

[chrismac]

I'm so totally shocked. Diana Ross, scoffing at the law? It's absurd.

 

Yeah - right.

[Guest Fin Fang Foom]

"My Life Is Empty Without Booze Babe"

 

Nostalgically yours,

 

FFF

[Guest Fin Fang Foom]

"My Life Is Empty Without Booze Babe"

 

Nostalgically yours,

 

FFF

[Luv2play]

What is the world coming to?!! A superstar arrested for drunk driving??? Where, oh, where are stars who still ACT like stars? Where was her CHAUFFEUR??? Night off, maybe? Still, no excuse for driving herself. Especially if the lady likes a drink or three. She deserves to get the book thrown at her, but probably won't. After all, she is a STAR!!!, well sortof.:-(

[btmstudnyc]

"I'm Boozing out...I want the world to know....got to let it show."

 

 

FFF....I couldn't resist...you started it.

 

JIM

[Chuck50]

And they say money can buy you anything. Well maybe not. We all have our problems and its hell to be famous. HUGS Chuck:-)

[VaHawk]

"But It Keeps Me Hangin' On"

 

See what you started. :+

[VaHawk]

I wish all those "perfect people" who replied so nastily would teach us their secret of perfection. Must feel good to get to walk around wearing a halo. I have never heard of the cops driving anyone home, but most times they'll let you call someone to come pick you up or call a cab to come get you, rather than make you stay in jail all night. But since cabs are not the easiest things to get in Arizona, perhaps they were just kind enough to take her to her residence. I'm glad it happened in Tucson and not Phoenix as Nazi Sheriff Joe Arpaio would have had a field day of self-promoting publicity putting her in a pink and black striped prison suit and sending her to the tent city jail for a week. :-(

[Big Daddy]

I am the Director of an alcohol treatment program in Phoenix and was amazed at how quickly the holier than thou attitude materialized. Diana Ross is a human being, just like most of us (have noticed that there are some exceptions on this list). She is struggling with a disease that really has very little to do with character, will power or how much money or fame she possesses.

 

Most of the world thinks of alcohol dependence as mostly a character flaw, and the inability to reach out to a "Higher Power". Medical research has clearly established the fact that alcohol dependence is primarily an issue of brain biochemistry, and that genetics plays a major factor in individual susceptibility.

 

Ross, like millions of other Americans, is a victim of genetics and an environment that cherishes alcohol consumption. That does not however give her the right to drive while intoxicated and putting others at risk. In Arizona, it is not at all uncommon for an arresting officer to provide a ride or at least call for a taxi. The key probably was the fact that she was cooperative and did not act like a bitch. The fact that she is fmous certainly played a part in the Officers offer of a ride, but I guarantee you, if she had been a bitch, she would be getting out of jail just about now.

 

Arizona is one of the toughest states in terms of DUI's. MADD had a tremendous impact here. Right now, if this is her first DUI (and not just in Arizona)she will get a minimum of 1 day in jail. Her BAL was high enough, 2.0 to warrant an added aggrivated count. This can be used as leverage by the court. If this is her second DUI, the aggrivated count will probably remain, which then means a minimum of 30 days in jail. The only way she can avoid jail time is to be found not guilty of the charge (not likely). Yes, she is very lucky that she was stopped in Tucson rather than Phoenix as Tucson's jail accomodations are far superior to Phoenix.

[Guest fukamarine]

>InArizona, it is not at all uncommon for an arresting officer to

>provide a ride or at least call for a taxi. The key probably

>was the fact that she was cooperative and did not act like a

>bitch. The fact that she is fmous certainly played a part in

>the Officers offer of a ride,

 

I'll bet the officer who gave her the ride probably just wanted an autograph for his "daughter"

 

 

fukamarine

[VaHawk]

>I am the Director of an alcohol treatment program in Phoenix

>and was amazed at how quickly the holier than thou attitude

>materialized. Diana Ross is a human being, just like most of

>us (have noticed that there are some exceptions on this list).

> She is struggling with a disease that really has very little

>to do with character, will power or how much money or fame she

>possesses.

>

>Most of the world thinks of alcohol dependence as mostly a

>character flaw, and the inability to reach out to a "Higher

>Power". Medical research has clearly established the fact

>that alcohol dependence is primarily an issue of brain

>biochemistry, and that genetics plays a major factor in

>individual susceptibility.

>

>Ross, like millions of other Americans, is a victim of

>genetics and an environment that cherishes alcohol

>consumption. That does not however give her the right to

>drive while intoxicated and putting others at risk. In

>Arizona, it is not at all uncommon for an arresting officer to

>provide a ride or at least call for a taxi. The key probably

>was the fact that she was cooperative and did not act like a

>bitch. The fact that she is fmous certainly played a part in

>the Officers offer of a ride, but I guarantee you, if she had

>been a bitch, she would be getting out of jail just about

>now.

>

>Arizona is one of the toughest states in terms of DUI's.

>MADD had a tremendous impact here. Right now, if this is her

>first DUI (and not just in Arizona)she will get a minimum of 1

>day in jail. Her BAL was high enough, 2.0 to warrant an added

>aggrivated count. This can be used as leverage by the court.

>If this is her second DUI, the aggrivated count will probably

>remain, which then means a minimum of 30 days in jail. The

>only way she can avoid jail time is to be found not guilty of

>the charge (not likely). Yes, she is very lucky that she was

>stopped in Tucson rather than Phoenix as Tucson's jail

>accomodations are far superior to Phoenix.

>

>

[taylorky]

>I wish all those "perfect people" who replied so nastily

>would teach us their secret of perfection.

===========listen closely........heres the secret..........ready,,,,,,,,,,,,D O N ' T D R I V E D R U N K!!!! whoa i'll be damned ...no secret at all, just common fucking sense and respect for the safety and lifes of innocent people....drunk drivers are scum.....and no i'm not perfect,about as far from it as a nice little jewish boy can be.......but i never endanger other peoples lifes through reckless and selfish behavior...........taylor@20:41-12/31/02

[+ Lucky]

And she is lucky she was stopped before she killed someone.

Even conceding that alcoholism is a disease, the diseased do have an obligation to society not to let their disease harm other people.

taylorky explained their obligation very well.

[Rick Munroe]

It's sad to see anyone fall apart like this; I'm just glad she didn't hurt anybody or herself. When Derek & I saw her in concert this summer, it was obvious that she had emotional and/or chemical problems; I found it uncomfortable to watch. Anyway, here's an account from the local Tucson Citizen newspaper (it also explains why she got a ride home):

 

Pop music legend Diana Ross told a police officer she had not been drinking shortly before she fell over during a sobriety test Monday, police say.

 

Ross, who eventually was arrested on three drunken driving-related charges, was trying to balance on her left leg, hopped three time to the left, put her foot down after seven seconds, fell over and said, "Ha, ha, ha, Great," according to the Tucson Police Department report released today.

 

Officer Scott R. Sullivan wrote in his report that he encountered Ross at 12:30 a.m. Monday in a Blockbuster Video store parking lot on the corner of North Sabino Canyon and East Tanque Verde Roads.

Her eyes were watery and bloodshot, her speech was slurred, she staggered and her breath smelled strongly of alcohol.

 

"I asked her if she had been drinking and she said, 'No,'" Sullivan wrote in the report, obtained through a public records request.

Minutes earlier, a citizen had called police to report a white car heading south in Sabino Canyon Road's northbound lanes near Tanque Verde.

 

Sullivan, who was in the area, saw a small white car pull into the video store's parking lot. The driver, later identified as Ross, parked at an angle in a handicapped parking space, got out of the car and walked toward the closed store, according to the report.

 

After Sullivan approached Ross, 58, and told her he was investigating a report of a car headed the wrong way on Sabino Canyon, Ross told him, "I got lost, I was just trying to get here to rent a video."

 

Sullivan did a few sobriety tests on Ross, including following a hand-held light with her eyes and a breath test. According to a test form with the report, in three breath tests, Ross showed a blood alcohol content of 0.220 percent at 12:51 a.m., 0.212 percent at 1:15 a.m. and 0.204 percent at 1:22 a.m.

 

Ross also did not do well on other sobriety tests, the report said.

"Ms. Ross also took the alphabet/number test (writing the alphabet and the even numbers from 0 to 30) and did poorly," Sullivan said in his report.

 

Sullivan then read Ross her rights, suspended her driver's license and arrested her on suspicion of drunken driving, drunken driving with a blood alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent and extreme drunken driving (having a BAC of more than .15). All are misdemeanors. She was released from custody at the scene. Sgt. Judy Altieri said DUI suspects normally are released after being cited rather than booked into jail.

 

Sgt. Christopher Andreacola, head of the police DUI squad, gave Ross a ride to where she was staying, according to the report.

Though a police ride home is not routine, said Assistant Police Chief Kermit Miller, it is not unusual. "It depends on the distance," he said. "The preference is to have someone come pick them up or take a cab, but if it's close and they are cooperative and it's quicker to just drop them off, then we'll do that." Otherwise, Miller said, said an officer must wait with a DUI suspect until someone arrives to pick them up.

 

He did not know how often DUI suspects are taken home by officers.

"It can be quicker and easier to give them a ride home, the bottom line is to get the officer back to work," Miller said.

 

And here's Diana's actual alphabet/number test:

 

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/breaking/12_31_02ross.jpg

[VaHawk]

An excellent, informative and compassionate post.

 

"The only way she can avoid jail time is to be found not guilty of the charge (not likely)."

 

Not likely? Try no f***ing way! As you say, Arizona has got to be the toughest state in the nation as far as DUI charges go. Get your third in a five year period and you're looking at hard time in the state penitentiary in Florence and you get to share a cell with murderers and rapists and other violent criminals. There is absolutely no point in hiring an expensive lawyer as you are going to come out no better than if you use a public defender. Of course, the lawyers know that, but you don't, so in effect you just throw your money away! I know, as I speak from personal experience. The aggravated charge applies if you have your second DUI (regardless of the state of the first one) within a five year period. For a state so adamantly against drunk driving, it does nothing constructive to prevent it. There is no public transportation in Phoenix, not even buses, after 6pm Mon-Sat and not even bus service on Sunday. If you want a cab, you better call at least 2 hours before you're ready to leave and go home.

 

MADD, or as we used to say in rehab, MADD in the rear view mirror is DDAM (Drunk Drivers Against Mothers), funny in a cute sort of way but in reality a lot more on the pathetic and sad side. I don't know what this poster's program is like, but if it is anything like the one the state makes you attend, then it is an absolute joke and a total waste of time, both for the participants and in meeting the goals of MADD. Show up for the session drunk or stoned - absolutely no problem - just call the program director and you'll get an extension (22 sessions instead of 20, of course that means an extra $40 for the company running the program). A true indication that it is all just a money making scheme for the state and the private rehab companies billing the state.

 

What do you get for your money via this state mandated "therapy"? Well you get to spend half your time watching third rate Hollywood movies showing people getting high on booze and drugs and having a grand old time (result: join your classmates in the parking lot after class and toke up, snort a few lines and down a few shots, whatever your scene is; net effect in solution of problem: a big fat zero!). The rest of your sessions are spent learning wonderful and fun things such as: what signs do cops look for that indicate a driver is impaired (always helpful in avoiding that next DUI, especially learning to rapidly fire off the alphabet in reverse order); all the drugs available out there, their slang names and their effects which only opens your imagination to try something you never even knew existed!; and most important of all the "magic formula" that allows you to calculate how many drinks you can have and avoid a DUI (a factor of gender, height, weight and time between drinks - what the hell, they even give you your very own wallet sized version that you can have laminated and take to the bars with you!). This latter point is most important in realizing that .20 for Diana Ross might be the same as .04 for you!

 

I know this is rambling, boring and tediously long, but it's point was to back up this poster's point that alcoholism is a physical, genetic and environmentally enhanced affliction and that casting aspersions at those afflicted as Miss Ross is, is at best misinformed and at worst mean spirited and vindictive and serves no useful purpose and to emphasize that jail and "so called" state mandated therapy is not going to solve the problem or benefit anyone!

[VaHawk]

No one is advocating drinking and driving. Your post especially "drunk old ass" was inappropriate, misinformed and offensive to not only to older people, but to those who suffer from alcholism which is a disease, not a choice! All this "holier than thou" attitude from someone who is not even old enough to legally drink! x(

[VaHawk]

I agree with your point about obligations, however I totally disagree about taylorky presentation!

[Guest]

>I am the Director of an alcohol treatment program in Phoenix

>and was amazed at how quickly the holier than thou attitude

>materialized. Diana Ross is a human being, just like most of

>us (have noticed that there are some exceptions on this list).

> She is struggling with a disease that really has very little

>to do with character, will power or how much money or fame she

>possesses.

>

 

I agree that alcoholism affects people regardless of fame or fortune. Although no one chooses to be alcoholic, this does not mean one doesn't have choices. I think it's a very important point that her BAC was 0.2%, not 0.08%. No matter what a person's weight, you have to drink quite a number of drinks over a short period of time to get that drunk. And at that level, you're a real public menace. No one has the right to endanger others that way, although we see this kind of stuff happen fairly frequently in the movies.

And although fame and fortune certainly doesn't protect against getting alcoholism, it certainly leaves you with more choices, in that having a limo driver or even a taxi driver becomes a more reasonable option. This woman was so drunk that a concerned observer even called the cops, and she parked sideways in a handicapped spot. Someone who's only mildly impaired would at least have the sense not to attract that much attention to herself.

I'm sorry if anyone finds my attitude "holier that thou," but I find this kind of behavior reprehensible in anyone, and especially in a public figure. I don't know about Arizona having the "toughest attitude against drunk drivers in the country." From stories I've heard (not by personal experience, thank God), I don't think anyone in California ever gets a ride home from the cops. In fact, I've never even heard of a cab being called. My understanding is that the usual procedure is that the drunk driver gets sent to jail (even if he's just at 0.08%, which I agree is a little harsh!) and he gets stuck with towing and storage costs for his car. From stories I've heard from California, I think things are tougher in the Golden State!

[adriano46]

FFF,

 

Very funny as always!

[Guest Love Bubble Butt]

Yes, alcoholism is a disease. And yes people don't choose to have the disease. And yes, there is even a genetic factor to it. But rarely are alcoholics drunk 24 hours a day. Although they are always (and will always be) an alcoholic, they do have periods of time where they are sober. During these sober times they have choices. Granted the "choice" to not drink is very difficult if not impossible due to their addiction. But when they CHOOSE to drive to a bar to feed that addiction knowing they'll have to drive back AFTER they have been drinking, THAT IS A CONSCIOUS DECISION! And it's a fucking selfish and reckless decision! And I for one am sick of people making all these fucking pathetic excuses for drunks.

 

You claim that this "holier than thou" attitude is offensive to those who suffer from alcoholism. Well consider this: People who make the conscious decision to put others at risk (in addition to those who make excuses for them) are deeply offensive to those who have had loved ones killed or their lives completely destroyed by a drunk!!

[Luv2play]

I posted an early response to this thread and now have seen the various responses. For myself, I don't buy this "alcoholism is a disease" line put out by various groups. It is an ADDICTION, not unlike drug addiction. To call it a disease makes it sound like the "victim" is helpless. There is no cure, we are told, only abstinence. Well, if that is the case, then the so-called victims have to address that fact. And if they don't then God help them if they get behind the wheel of a car after tying one on. That is the price they pay for the privilege of having a driving permit and using public thoroughfares we all have to use. I don't want a drunk coming at me in the other direction in the wrong lane. It happens to be my RIGHT to expect that it won't happen. When it does, I want that person put away, simply put. Taken off the road and forced to deal with their problem. But as I said earlier, she is a star, so let's see how the wheels of justice work this time.

[shy]

thank you, you have put my exact sentiments about the matter in words that i wouldn't have composed quite as well. the part i have the most trouble comprehending in these situations is how anyone with the money, and, you would think, people around them to take what seem like simple steps to prevent this result, get in trouble anyway. probably just that it gets so bad they either give up trying to protect her, or are no longer able to.