By Arin Gencer
The recent arrest of Gulfport resident Jessica Peeples in a DUI manslaughter case raises questions about what can be done to prevent drunken drivers from getting behind the wheel and turning their vehicles into deadly weapons.
According to Gulfport police records, the number of drivers arrested for driving under the influence has dropped over the last few years, from 83 in 1999 to 53 in 2003. According to MADD statistics for 2002, of the 140 traffic accidents in Gulfport in 2002, 15 percent were alcohol-related. And as of Dec. 9, 2003, 46 of the city's 1,455 traffic violations have involved DUI arrests.
Yet local bar owners and police still are taking steps to prevent tragic accidents like that of Peeples and friend Christina Bartles. The 29-year-old St. Petersburg mother of three rode in the passenger seat of Peeples' pickup and suffered fatal head wounds after flying through the vehicle window during the December crash. After fleeing the county, Peeples turned herself in to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on June 17.
Gulfport's city code prohibits anyone who sells alcohol from selling beverages to "any person who is at the time intoxicated," and from allowing such individuals on the premises. Local bar owners and bartenders say they have no qualms about complying with this law, despite the belligerence they may encounter from their patrons.
"We want to see them home safe," said Buddy's bartender Bobby Kyle. She said the 49th Street South bar just stops serving drinks to someone who's clearly had too much-and throws them out if they become difficult.
Lynelle Winans, a bartender at Shore Boulevard bar O'Maddy's, said she'll cut patrons off as "nice" as she can if they've had too much to drink. Sometimes she even takes regulars' keys, knowing they'll come back for them the next day when they've had a chance to sober up.
In her 15 years of bartending, Winans has seen it all.
One time Winans paid $40 in cab fare for a drunken woman weeping over her boyfriend, who had left the bar without her. And then there was the 90-year-old regular who would do anything for a drink. Another patron bought him a scotch on the sly, but Winans caught onto them.
"He wrestled me down for that drink," she said. "I grabbed him by the seat of his pants and threw him out."
If they still refuse to leave, she added, she calls the police. The threat of going to jail usually calms them down.
"The liability-it's huge, it's absolutely huge," said Winans, referring to another reason bartenders are careful to monitor their clients' alcohol intake. "You have this power back here and you really have to watch how you use it."
O'Maddy's practice of cutting off patrons is the norm among Gulfport bars. All four, including restaurant-bar H.T. Kane's on Shore Boulevard, call on local cab company Bats Taxi to take drunken patrons home-for free.
Some bar owners have taken additional steps for safety, becoming certified under the state's Responsible Vendor Program. The program, which is voluntary, began in January 1990. It provides clear guidelines for dealing with intoxicated clients. It also helps protect those who sell alcohol against lawsuits from drunken-driving accident victims.
O'Maddy's and H.T. Kane's are the two Gulfport bars that participate.
To be considered a responsible vendor, licensed alcohol sellers must ensure their employees are versed in alcohol service laws and taught how to deal with underage drinkers, customers who are already intoxicated and drugs on the premises. New hires must attend a session within 30 days of the first day of employment. Employees have to repeat these sessions every four months.
"It's an excellent thing to make sure the staff is trained," said H.T. Kane's owner Helga Kane.
O'Maddy's owner Joe Gunther said he likes the program because it gives his bartenders a regiment to follow.
Richard Garcia, a trainer for Tampa-based Professional Inc., one of four private companies in Florida that certifies bars, restaurants and stores as responsible vendors, instructs servers to first offer clients who've had too much to drink a non-alcoholic beverage that does not have caffeine in it. Servers also should offer food to patrons in lieu of another beverage, he said.
And if they're really drunk and refuse a ride, Garcia recommends calling the police to document their refusal.
Once drunken patrons hit the street, the situation moves from the hands of the servers to those who serve and protect.
Gulfport police Sgt. Richard Lehr said police academies train future officers on how to handle drunken-driving situations even before they join a force. Rookies participate in a two-week, pre-field-training program that includes DUI instruction and enforcement, he said. He added that the Gulfport police force emphasizes being proactive.
"We don't just wait until they hit something," said Lehr, who is in his seventh year on the force. Sometimes a sergeant on duty assigns an officer to monitor bars as people walk out during the two major waves of business, which usually fall around happy hour, 4 to 8 p.m., and closing time, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Lehr asks people how much they've had to drink and checks for nystagmus-rapid, involuntary eye twitching-a "very obvious" indicator "in someone who's had a lot to drink." He also looks for bloodshot or watery eyes and warns those who are alcohol-impaired that he can arrest them if he has probable cause. Officers even have had dispatchers call cabs for people who decide they are too drunk to drive.
But Lehr said police catch most drunken drivers during typical traffic stops-pulling cars over for normal traffic violations. Certain clues lead patrol officers to make these stops, including drivers in cars with lights turned off at night, and people who stop at stop signs or red lights for longer than usual or fail to maintain a single lane. And once they make the stop, they perform field sobriety tests most recognize: the finger-to-nose, the one-leg-stand and the alphabet test-for which people are asked to say, not sing, the letters of the alphabet.
Pinellas County MADD victim advocate Cheryl Price suggests that the Fourth Amendment "probable cause" requirement in some ways restricts police in their efforts to stop drunken drivers. If officers see someone driving while intoxicated, they must witness drivers committing some other traffic violation before they can pull them over, she said.
"It's a little tricky for the officers," she added, because even complaint or tip calls are not enough to justify pulling people over just for driving under the influence. And, as in one of her cases here in Pinellas County, that traffic violation may only come when the driver hits an innocent bystander.