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Wednesday, October 11, 2006
10/12: Trooper’s side of Cindy’s alleged DUI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Through Georgia State Patrol spokesman Larry Schnall, I finally got information from the trooper’s police report regarding Star 94’s Cindy Simmons’ arrest last Thursday night in Buckhead. Up to this point, I’ve only gotten Cindy’s point of view, which she told on the air Friday and I repeated portions of what she said on Monday.
The trooper is Stacey Collins. He’s part of the Georgia State Patrol of the DUI Enforcement Unit funded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. He was recently named trooper of the year for DUI enforcement.
In the police report, he said he was driving behind Simmons, who was in a BMW on Sardis Way at 11:53 p.m. October 5. (That’s near the Roxy Theatre.) She made a wide right turn onto Roswell Road without using her turn signal at the stop sign. She also didn’t make a full stop so Collins pulled her over. He said she was very polite and apologized for not stopping completely at the stop sign. He wrote that he detected the smell of alcohol and thought her eyes were bloodshot and watery so he requested she exit the vehicle.
She acknowledged to him she had been drinking that evening. He gave her some sobriety tests, including one leg lift, walking in a straight line and the “follow the finger” procedure that law enforcement calls Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus. The report does not say how she did on those tests. She said on air she thought she did fine.
He wrote that Simmons said she had two margaritas that night but wasn’t consistent in terms of when she drank them. Simmons on air felt she was not impaired in any way but did not say anything about when she had her last drink or even what she drank.
Trooper Collins said he requested she do an onsite preliminary breath test but she politely declined. He said he read her her rights, a procedure which includes offering the option of going to a hospital to have an unbiased blood alcohol test taken, but she didn’t pursue that option. Schnall said the incident was videotaped but the tape won’t be released until the case has been heard in court. Schnall said she can continue to drive with a temporary driving permit until she goes to a hearing sometime in November. The hearing, he said, determines if the trooper followed DUI arrest procedures. If the administrative license suspension (ALS) is upheld, he said, she would automatically lose her license for 1 year because she refused the DUI test under the implied consent law. He said trooper Collins had a 100% conviction rate in 2005 for DUI.
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10/11: Star 94’s stunt (updated)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This morning, Star 94’s long-time morning show Steve & Vikki was off the air, along with the rest of hte air staff the entire day. There was a taped message saying a “new lineup” would be announced Thursday at 7:20 a.m. General Manager Mark Kanov declined to comment to me. But at 4:30 p.m., the Star staff was told it was indeed a stunt, that the “new lineup” they are going to announce is the Star 94 Jingle Jam Christmas concert “lineup.” Two acts I heard are the Fray and Hinder. In other words, it’s not a format switch or changes in DJs. It’s just a promotion. So Star fans, just enjoy a day of all music, no jocks.
Some Star employees, though, had taken it seriously and were worried and upset until they were told it meant nothing. Sounds like something Michael (played by Steve Carell) on “The Office” might do.
