Report: Beto O’Rourke Attempted to Flee the Scene of 1998 Drunk Driving Incident
Has yet to comment on the allegations he fled the scene
In 1998, Rep. Beto O’Rourke was involved in a drunk driving accident and arrested. The drunk driving along with and a separate arrest for jumping a fence onto the University of Texas El Paso grounds are common knowledge, both to watchers of O’Rourke’s Senate campaign and his Congressional races before.
O’Rourke has spoken openly about both infractions, saying the drunk driving incident was a “serious mistake for which there is no excuse.”
Buuuuut, the police report of the 1998 drunk driving incident revealed a detail not previously disclosed. According to witness accounts, O’Rourke attempted to flee the scene of the accident.
From the Houston Chronicle:
State and local police reports obtained by the Chronicle and Express-News show that O’Rourke was driving drunk at what a witness called “a high rate of speed” in a 75 mph zone on Interstate 10 about a mile from the New Mexico border. He lost control and hit a truck, sending his car careening across the center median into oncoming lanes. The witness, who stopped at the scene, later told police that O’Rourke had tried to drive away from the scene.
O’Rourke recorded a 0.136 and 0.134 on police breathalyzers, above a blood-alcohol level of 0.10, the state legal limit at the time. He was arrested at the scene and charged with DWI, but completed a court-approved diversion program and had the charges dismissed.
In a statement issued Thursday, O’Rourke glossed over the allegation that he attempted to drive off (Chronicle ctd):
In a statement Thursday, O’Rourke did not address the witness account of his alleged attempt to flee.
“I drove drunk and was arrested for a DWI in 1998,” O’Rourke said. “As I’ve publicly discussed over the last 20 years, I made a serious mistake for which there is no excuse.”
Cruz’s campaign has declined to comment.
As National Review details, O’Rourke has used his past as a reason to pursue criminal justice reform:
The Texas congressman and Senate hopeful has cited his past wrongdoings in justifying his support for criminal-justice reform.
“Those mistakes did not ultimately define me or stop me from what I wanted to do in my life or how I wanted to contribute to the success of my family and my community,” O’Rourke wrote in an op-ed for the Chronicle published on Monday.
As these things go, the revelation is more likely to concern older voters than the younger crowd, who’ve largely embraced criminal justice reform for various reasons. Several polls show O’Rourke’s favorability lies mostly in the younger voting block, so the allegations are not likely to do as much damage as they might to another candidate.
Should the sins of youth forever prevent someone from achieving their dreams, particularly if those dreams are in public service? I don’t know. There’s certainly plenty of gray area there and room for discussion. The idea that one infraction disqualifies someone from a higher career goal is accepted everywhere but politics these days. That said, this is a question worth asking:
I hesitate to bring up youthful DUIs (see: Greatest Living President). But the question does have to be asked whether you or I– not the son of influential local judges– could drunk drive, hit a truck, spin into incoming traffic, try to run, and end up with charges dismissed.
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 31, 2018
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Comments
This Beto DUI looks far worse than that similar story dropped on Bush 43 a week or so before the 2000 elections.
“Beat-it Beto,” a man in a hurry. Keep an eye on this kid, folks — he’s going places!
You know, 26 years-old is full-blown adulthood, for most people. If “Beto” had been a teenager when this conduct had happened, one might be inclined to chalk it up to youthful bad judgment, and all that, but, this guy has no excuses to offer, given his age at the time.
Give the guy a break! Under Obamacare standards a 26-year-old is just crawling out of Mommy’s basement.
New Dumb-o-crat slogan advocating for perpetual adolescence — “26 is the new 16.”
Under ObamaCare standards a 26 y.o. hasn’t fully emerged from Momma’s womb. By twenty six my dad had already transitioned from serving in WWII in the Pacific to the Korean War
Somebody check my math. My dad, the sainted Senior Chief, was born in February 1927. He joined the Coast Guard when he turned 17 (February 1944).
Yeah, he’d have been under 26 when the Korean War broke out.
Anyone like a nice cup of Cocoa and some footie pajamas and a lecture about the benefits of socialized medicine?
And before any of you scum bags get any ideas that I’m a hypocrite for accepting Navy medical care but denying the benefits of socialized medicine to every one else, it’s precisely because I had had no choice in my twenty year Navy career that I wouldn’t inflict it on my worst enemy.
I’m not saying there aren’t good people in Navy medicine. When I was recalled after 9/11 my “across the hall” neighbor was a young nurse at the naval hospital at Yokosuka. She was in tears. She had just been tasked to contact someone who hadn’t been told about the truth about a biopsy. It was positive for cancer and it was years old.
When you remove the profit motive, you remove any motive altogether. She had been tasked to give the man, if he were still alive, the bad news because her chain of command was too cowardly to do it themselves.
Typical for the Navy. One of the criticisms we got in our battle group evaluations was that the senior commanders allowed the Lieutenant Junior Grades to sort out battle problems that the Admirals and Captains should have already figured out. I told her that I would hold her hand but she didn’t want to reveal any privacy act information to me. So when she was done I told her to knock on my door as I had a bottle of liquor with her name on it.
No, nothing happened. She had just gotten done being abused by a bunch of cowards. I wasn’t going to repeat the sin.
HIPAA, that’s what she wasn’t going to reveal.
Nothing happened except we drained the bottle.
Ya’ll should see the pics of the nearly empty high school gym where Beta held his all important Townhall meeting last night a few miles from his home….
-that meeting was so important that he couldn’t make it to debate Ted Cruz;
-or was he more concerned about it being the opening of Friday Night Lights in Texas
-oh wait…. Cruz insisted they follow regular debate on legislative issues rather than have a “free flowing discussion of ideas”
Even more fun….. Trump is coming down to Texas for a campaign rally… Texas stadium is the likely venue, but Houston wouldn’t be farfetched since despite local petty Dems, Trump is popular for his pro-active hurricane response. Either location there is a much bigger message cooking underneath – Beto made is making a big splash over his NFL comments. Anyone who doesn’t think Cruz/Trump are cooking up a campaign rally that is going to highlight absolutely everything more American than taking a knee IN AN NFL STADIUM is sniffing glue. It’s going to be glorious red meat for the base and I’m even thinking about sucking it up and braving the crowds.
Beto is a buck tooth nerd. Help Wanted. Texas Senate. Socialists need not apply. I hate Ted Cruz he’s like a sniveling man child. But I would vote for him a thousand time before I voted for a socialist.
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