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Oh No, A gun on a motorcycle!


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GAHANNA, Ohio - Police on Wednesday released video of a motorcyclist who was charged with drunken-driving and carrying a weapon while he was intoxicated.

Zachery Hammond pleaded not guilty to the charges and was scheduled to return to a courtroom later in the month, 10TV's Jason Frazer reported.

Lisa Donahue said that she called police when she saw the motorcyclist driving erratically along Interstate 270. Moments later, she said she saw a gun poking out of Hammond's pants.

"He was taking his hands off the handle bars," Donahue said. "You don't know what somebody is going to do when they're acting like that and I don't need my kids getting hurt."

According to Donahue, Hammond and another motorcyclist were tailgating. Several minutes later, police caught up with the pair. They pulled both over and asked Hammond if he was drinking.

Hammond denied drinking but when an officer asked him to count to 10, he failed the test, according to the video taken from the officer's dash cam.

Hammond told Frazer that he has a concealed-carry permit and had not consumed alcohol in more than a month.

"Since (the officer) said that he smelled alcohol, I didn't want to lose my concealed-carry, so I said, 'I'm not blowing.'"

Brian Hoyt, a Gahanna city spokesman, said that Donahue did the right thing by calling 911.

"If you see something, say something," Hoyt said. "Had that person not called, we may have not known that this person was driving erratically."

Police said that they confiscated Hammond's gun and license until the case is resolved.

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2011/09/01/gahanna-motorcyclist-charged-drunken-driving-gun.html

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Isn't all that hearsay? Not sure why he didn't blow if wasn't really drinking.

Yeah, I'm sure his defense will be interesting. I posted this more because of the headline which according to their story wasn't why he was even pulled over. He just happened to have a firearm, but it was the wreckless opp that police stopped him.

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Comment from the other rider with him.

This story has been very twisted to make "better" news. I would like to clarify a few facts from that day and tell a bit of what actually happened. I am the other rider with Zac in this video. We had just finished a 7+ hour ride with some friends and this incident happened on our way home to a surprise birthday party for Zac. After riding the entire day in heavy traffic, we did not have any problems despite Ms. Donahue's opinion that people like us should not be on the street. Before we were pulled over, the only time zac took his hands off the handlebars and waved them (like Ms. Donahue described) was when a car on 270 tried to merge directly into his lane and came less than a foot away from hitting him. The girl was talking on her phone and obviously did not see him since she nearly ran him over. Zac honked the horn and put his hands up so she would see him. We were not driving erratically/fast or doing any "stunts" at all. The officer told me they were following us for a few minutes before we saw them and they pulled us over. They observed us both wearing helmets, safety gear, staying within the speed limit and driving normally before they pulled us over. The only reason we were pulled over was the 911 call with our description. The gun was concealed in an inside-the-pants holster under his t-shirt. Unfortunately while riding home on the highway, a combination of the wind blowing and riding position on this type of motorcycle caused the back of Zac's shirt to come un-tucked and the handle of his gun was exposed. The gun was never pulled out of the holster and only a small part of the gun's handle was visible while his shirt was flapping in the wind. I do not understand why this would make Ms. Donahue fear for her kid's safety and dial 911 although I do realize the fear many people have associated with handguns. We are both long time gun owners for 20+ years with lots of training, handgun classes, hundreds of competitions and lots of range time. We take gun safety VERY seriously since we have been around them our entire lives. Also, in this article it says "when an officer asked him to count to 10, he failed the test". The officer did not simply ask him to count to 10. When you hear him counting in the police video, he was at the side of the road standing on one foot while counting. This is difficult for Zac after a serious motorcross accident on a track left him with 2 broken legs and a shattered ankle which took 5 surgeries and a bone marrow transplant to get him walking again. This is another reason we take safety on our bikes very seriously. Everyone is free to make their own conclusions about what happened, and my statements probably won't make a difference. Sport bikes and handguns are frowned on by a lot of people so many of them have already decided he is guilty without hearing most of the real facts from that day. I just wanted to share the truth instead of the "story" that is seen here.
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This does not sound good for the guys. Why is it that when people see a gun they freak out like this. Only if he were attempting to grab the gun and point at said person should they fear. I wonder how twisted this thing is going to get.

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Some medical conditions can make your breathe smell like alcohol...jussayin

Smelling like it won't make you fail the test. IMHO, personally, I only see one

reason to refuse the test. Other than being an asshole like IP :slap:

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I wouldn't blow' date=' even if I were stone sober... but some say I'm an asshole like that. :dunno:[/quote']

+1 fuck em. They've got nothin.

It sounds like they pulled him over on hearsay alone. Thats bullshit.

A good attorney should be able to make this go away, but Lisa Donahue needs to mind her own business. :nono:

Edited by max power
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I wouldn't blow' date=' even if I were stone sober... but some say I'm an asshole like that. :dunno:[/quote']

I'm with you. But one thing. At the DMV you signed paperwork acknowledging that you will blow when told or lose your license.

Driving is a privilege, etc., blahblahhopechangeetcblah.

Like many other times when the government has you on your knees, cashmoney will let you stand on your own two feet.

Acting piss drunk and blowing a 0.00 would be a good story to tell though.

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FYI, this girl lives in my neighborhood, I was 99% sure it was her when I saw this on the news, now after seeing the FB I know 100% it is. Im not sure what house it is, don't really care, but I do know it's here. The funny thing is all of us that ride in the neighborhood have our CCWs and carry while riding too. Hell, most of us have guns being handled all the time around our homes, garages etc.

Fact is this dude should get off with nothing, they may get him for not blowing, BUT in this case, as stated the cops aren't the ones who saw him riding all crazy etc. So that should also get tossed out.

If he gets a decent lawyer or even a public defender this should be thrown out pretty quickly. I would definitely then sue the shit out of the PD but that is just me and Im a dick to cops anymore unless it's justified. This was not.

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If he refused to provide a sample and the police lost the opportunity to collect the sample then he will be charged with OVI Refusal and I don't see how a lawyer will help that unless there are other unrelated procedural problems that the lawyer might discover. OVI Refusal is a common concept in law across many countries in which you are assumed to have refused to provide a sample because you knew you were drunk. In the UK it's called "Failure to proved a specimen for laboratory analysis". Generally the penalties are exactly the same as if you had been drunk - this prevents people from evading OVI simply by refusing to provide a sample. When you sign up for your license you agree that you will provide a sample when asked or else lose you license.

Now, whether OVI refusal is enough to he was drunk for his CHL is another matter... The refusal + poor performance on the FST + testimony from the officer that he smelled alcohol = bad news for the defense.

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Everything I've read in defense of the accused is believable. The news lying, a woman freaking out at the site of a gun, etc. All standard. I even believe that the roadside stupid human tricks test could be a problem for someone with the injuries described.

If you're accused of something like this and you have a permit, you know the serious nature of the license. If you passed the class, you know that it's not a game. If you're suspected of DUI while you are armed, you know to submit to the roadside tests. You should be demanding one and a blood test to immediately prove your innocence.

The test might lie? Please! If you have not been drinking at all, it's not going to register high enough no matter what and a blood test would certainly not show any. If you have been drinking, even just a little, you're an idiot for carrying while drinking and you don't deserve the permit.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Edited by newarkOhioLinks
typo
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