Hack Attack
A police lieutenant in Orlando, Fla., heard a shot fired, and saw a minivan speed away from the scene. It was 2:00 on a Sunday morning, April 11. He wasn't in position to give chase, but he radioed the van's description and direction of travel.
Other officers quickly located the vehicle, spotting it easily because it was being driven "recklessly" up the freeway at over 100 mph, officers say. Not to mention that it was a distinctive vehicle: a taxi, as described by the lieutenant.
Officers surrounded the taxi when it stopped and ordered the driver to go prone on the street. The driver got back in the cab and locked the door. When he moved in a way that made officers think he was going for a weapon, they smashed out his window and dragged him out. A pistol was found in the console.
Taxi driver Adrian Marun, 29, allegedly said he was only trying to scare another taxi driver with the shot. Driving so fast? He was being chased by a taxi driver -- but the lieutenant didn't see anyone chasing him. And driving like such an idiot? Well, he had "two beers," he admitted.
Well sure the nice policemen believed every word. Marun was charged with driving under the influence, reckless driving, using a firearm under the influence of alcohol, carrying a concealed weapon, and resisting arrest without violence.
A pair of breath tests showed the "two beers" he had drunk pushed his blood alcohol level to 0.177 percent and 0.187 percent, or more than double the legal limit. He was jailed on $5,000 bail.
Adrian: they're just "trying to scare you" with talk of 20-30 years in prison. Odds are you can plea-bargain it down to 4 or 5.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
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Most Recent Comments
Posted by Ozz, Kentucky on April 18, 2010:
I don''t know if it's the same now as it was when I used to live there, but Florida had a 10-20-Life policy for guns.
Pull a gun during the commission of a crime: 10 years. Fire a gun during the commission of a crime: 20 years. Shoot someone (even if the bullet just skims someone's flesh) during the commission of a crime and it's 25 to Life.
And those were all statutory minimums. No plea-bargaining, no time off for good behavior. You would serve every minute of the time. In his case he would be looking at a minimum 20 years.
Posted by Lynne, Gresham, OR on April 20, 2010:
I know that look. He used it on Mom for 29 years and it worked!
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Doesn't work too well on judges, though. -rc
Posted by Mike from Dallas on May 31, 2010:
Many years ago (back in the 70's) I ran dispatch for a taxi company in Michigan for a couple months. One of the drivers liked to carry a starter pistol, the kind that just fires blanks. He was telling about one night at a red light, a car pulled up next to him. He looked at the other driver, the other driver looked at him, he pulled out the started pistol, gave a lunatic grin, pointed the pistol at his own head, and pulled the trigger. With the loud bang, he slumped over against the window as the other car burned rubber getting out of there.
Later on, he was advised that it was still illegal to carry even a starter pistol on his person without a license, but I had to wonder about the powder burns to his head. And as Brandon Lee demonstrated later, it's entirely possible to kill yourself with blanks.
But I have to believe you're right, Randy, it must be something about taxi drivers, regardless of location.
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Powder burns is one thing. The damage to his hearing is another! -rc