A rural Baldwin City woman was taken to the hospital Wednesday night after rolling her car during a brief pursuit with police.
Baldwin City police Sgt. Mike Underwood said an officer attempted to stop the vehicle about 10 p.m. because he suspected she was driving under the influence.
She failed to yield and drove away north on Eisenhower Street. Once she drove beyond the city limits the woman lost control of the car on a gravel road rolling the vehicle on East 1750 Road.
Underwood said the pursuit last for fewer than two minutes and did not exceed 40 mph. Officers were able to help the woman get out of the vehicle. She was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital for minor injuries. A blood sample was taken and will be forwarded to prosecutors for a decision about formal charges. An LMH spokeswoman said she was treated and released.
Sgt. Steve Lewis, a Douglas County Sheriff’s spokesman, said DUI and reckless driving were listed as contributing factors to the accident. An accident report identified the driver as Judith Brich, 45. Sheriff’s officers investigated the accident because it occurred in the county.
Comments
blindrabbit 1 year, 1 month ago
What no Pit maneuver or Taser! Good work on the part of Sherrif's Dept. Bet she's got a tripled duty hangover now.
BlackVelvet 1 year, 1 month ago
I believe it was Baldwin Police who pursued and apprehended this person. The Sheriff's Office investigated the related accident. So, good work on the part of Baldwin PD!
Ricky_Vaughn 1 year, 1 month ago
Must've been fresh out of basketball tickets...
OonlyBonly 1 year, 1 month ago
You didn't read the article correctly - this was the Baldwin City PD not Lawrence...
Bonus 1 year, 1 month ago
Wrong departments.
artful_dodger 1 year, 1 month ago
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Less than two minutes at 40 mph or slower and she rolls the car. I'd be panicking too.
cheeseburger 1 year, 1 month ago
So much for 'the Journal-World generally does not identify suspects until they are formally charged.'
I guess that statement is less about policy and more about local journalistic subjectivity.
DennisAnderson 1 year, 1 month ago
Hello Cheeseburger. The policy statement is: "The Journal-World generally does not identify sex crime suspects unless they are convicted." This is not a story about a sex crime. Dennis Anderson Managing Editor
cheeseburger 1 year, 1 month ago
Oh, like this:
'Lawrence police Tuesday afternoon arrested a 23-year-old Lawrence man on suspicion of aggravated assault and criminal damage to property. Kim Murphree, a police spokeswoman, said the man was arrested after a family dispute early Tuesday morning in the 2500 block of Crestline Place. He was accused of threatening another resident of the home with a knife, but no one was injured. Douglas County prosecutors will make a decision about filing formal charges. The Journal-World generally does not identify suspects unless they are formally charged.' -LJW 2/14/12
Either you have misstated the policy, or your staff has misapplied it.
maisy 1 year, 1 month ago
What a whiner!! Who gives a rats back side about a name in the story. Read the story and understand what the article is telling you and paint the picture. It doesn't matter if the name is Bozo the Clown.
Naming a person in an article only lets you know if it is a person you know or not. That's what it really boils down to. If it is a name you don't recognize, then you most likely will not care. If it is someone you know, you are shocked and in disbelief.
In the end, whether you know the name or not, your going to stereotype anyway, which is what most of these comments are about. People speculate and think they know the truth, which is how gossip starts.
So, Dennis.....don't worry about it. These people are whiners.
Pywacket 1 year, 1 month ago
Yeah, Dennis~~ He's got you on this one. The staff is very inconsistent about this--again and again. I'd look up more examples, but I believe you have access....
cheeseburger 1 year, 1 month ago
That was my point exactly, Py - saying one thing and doing another. Of course that point went over the head of the simpleton Maisy above. Either follow the policy or change the policy.
And you're right - there were plenty more examples!
Alex Parker 1 year, 1 month ago
Pywacket and cheeseburger, the reason this person was named is because she was involved in a traffic accident. That is consistent with our policy.
Pywacket 1 year, 1 month ago
Sorry for the delay... Don't know if anyone is still reading this thread, but...
Alex, surely you can see our point, even is we don't do the legwork and find other examples of this inconsistency--and there are many.
We've all read the disclaimer that Dennis quotes above (re: sexual crimes)... but we also have seen articles where a name is withheld on a non-sexual matter or names given out before formal charges were made--as in this case. So the "being involved in a traffic accident" factor trumps the "probably committed a crime but hasn't yet been charged" factor? That hardly seems sporting, especially when, other times, drivers or passengers aren't named for a few days anyway. Why the rush this time?
In order to avoid accusations of inconsistency from your nitpicky readers (sorry! I know we're a pain in the butt!), perhaps the policies on when/whether people are named in print should be stated more comprehensively.
And if you've read this far, maybe you can tell me the answer to something that's puzzled me for a while: Why are crime victims' ages considered relevant? It makes sense when a victim is, for instance, a child who has been abused, but it always seems weird to read that a 23-year-old woman reported $80 worth of equipment stolen from her car.... or that a 47-year-old man reported $250 in vandalism damages to his windows...
If it's utterly irrelevant to the crime, why is the victim's age important enough to appear in the story? It would make just as much (or little) sense to report that the victim was 5' 8" with brown hair and blue eyes. In cases where the victim is named, I can't help thinking how annoyed some people might be (my sister, for instance!! haha) to have insult added to injury when her age was reported after some donkey had just stolen her car. A lot of people are touchy about their age, silly as that seems.
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