Being young, drunk and stupid can come with lifelong consequences. And those consequences can come even if you weren’t drunk. Just ask a Tucson guy we’ll call Sam.
Twenty-something Sam was an upstanding person: a former soldier, an intelligent and compassionate chap who was aiming for grand things.
“I wanted to be a lawyer to help people,” he writes in an email. Sam instead found himself on the other side of the law as a defendant in a crime that got plenty of press due to its grisly nature.
The crime involved a severed arm.
Now Sam did not sever the arm. Nor was it his arm. The arm belonged to one of the two passengers in the Jeep that Sam was driving on that fateful night in 2009. Sam had agreed to give two guys a ride, guys we’ll call Mr. V and Mr. Choke. Sam said both of them had been drinking, and a fight erupted between Sam and Mr. Choke.
That’s when Mr. Choke put Sam in a chokehold while they were cruising down the street. Driving a Jeep while in a chokehold doesn’t work out very well.
The out-of-control Jeep thus sideswiped a tree and Mr. V, who had been partly hanging out of the vehicle, ended up with his arm severed below the shoulder. As most folks may be wont to do when they see a severed arm in their vehicle, Sam freaked out.
With Mr. V and Mr. Choke out of the vehicle, Sam drove to an apartment complex and threw the arm in a Dumpster.
Police found Mr. V at the scene of the accident and the arm in the Dumpster, but docs were unable to reattach it. It’s not clear where Mr. Choke was directly after the accident, but it is clear that Sam’s life is, well, screwed.
Sam is stuck with two felony convictions on his record—for leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence. He did 30 days in jail and was placed on probation for 36 months. His probation was shortened by six months for good behavior.
The incident “has immeasurably affected me, my family and crushed any hope of having a normal life,” Sam writes. “Every day I live with this. My career in the military is over. I owned a few guns and ATF raided my home to take the guns as I was unaware … I needed to give them up. … And, of course, there’s the issue of having anyone I meet Google me and think I’m some kind of killer.”
Mr. V and Mr. Choke didn’t face any charges, although Mr. V was later awarded big bucks in a civil suit against Mr. Choke. Mr. Choke was deemed responsible for the accident, and he just happened to have a $1 million car insurance policy that took care of the award.
“How is it that I am guilty in a criminal court’s eyes, but civil courts found that the man that had me in the chokehold was guilty?” Sam asked. “And in the criminal case there were no charges filed against the guy that had me in the chokehold?
“One word,” Sam says. “Money.” (Sam also points out that Mr. Choke’s dad is a lawyer.)
While we must note that Sam did, indeed, technically leave the scene of the accident and “tamper with evidence,” should a guy who ended up with a severed arm in his Jeep through no fault of his own get some kind of break?
“It’s very difficult not only because of my background now with a felony record, but the mental weight of that night,” Sam says. “The horrors of it were unimaginable. I was in the Army; I have seen death or the pain of a wounded friend. But that night was something I couldn’t piece together. It’s something that has forced me to lose confidence in my social relationships with the world around me.”
So what’s the moral of the story here? We get several of them, actually.
Make sure there’s a lawyer in the family. Stock up on loads of cash if you ever expect to face any type of charges. And if you do end up with a criminal record, expect felonies to haunt you for the rest of your life, punishing you again and again—not unlike the gory image of a severed arm.
This article appears in May 16-22, 2013.
Did the writer bother to read any of the official records in this case? Cos this story doesn’t seem to match. Oh, I guess everybody was lying.
What about “Sam” calling 911, not to report the crash, but to lie and say his Jeep was stolen? Did she ask about that? Did she ask about why he sped up and slowed down and sped up when the victim was chasing the Jeep? Did she ask why all official records say it was the victim and “Sam” who were arguing and what they were arguing about?
Taking the word of the person who feels so very wronged in this case is … wrong. As is blaming everyone else for one’s wrongful actions. I have no stake in this case, but it clearly sounds as if the writer has a personal stake in rewriting the criminal history of a stupid person who wants to blame everyone but himself. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?
This was an unforunate event, that is a fact. But seriously, this guy could have stopped to help, called 911, or a million things other than running and dumping the guys arm in a dumpster. No matter who started the whole thing, he should have stayed and helped. No excuse for that, he deserves the blame he got, I think he got off lucky.
This “Sam” kid is a fucking moron, and Gargulinski, you didnt help matters either. Putting someone in a headlock is both morally and legally nothing, in comparison to taking someones arm you just hacked off while drunk driving and tossing it in a dumpster to avoid trouble for yourself, in a pathetic cover up attempt.
You are right about one thing being about money.. They didnt find you civilly at fault, cause more likely than not, you were driving (drunk no less) without insurance.
As far as the criminal side of things, I think you got off far too easy. 30 fucking days in county and some probation? “Ahhh boo-hoo my life is ruined” your punk ass shoulda had to do some real time on a four yard.
That non-sense at the end of having money and a lawyer in the family is absolutely fucking ridiculous and completely irresponsible.
Guess what, I have a lawyer in my family and some money, and when I fucked up at 19, I had to suck it up, own up to my shit and do some time, WITHOUT crying like a little bitch.
I suppose you think your buddy who put you in a head lock deserves to be arrested? PUH-LEASE dude. You probably think he deserves more than 30 days too, huh?
Try mustering up an ounce of manhood “Sammy” and take responsibility for own actions, you despicable coward. And, Gargulinski, you should have seen through this weak idiot and not show any compassion for the scumbag.
Sam got to a safe location away from the incident where he was assulted by Mr. Choke and threatened with his life by Mr. V and called police as soon as possible. What Sam called in was wrong and a crime. Its called false police report. Prove that Sam knew a mans arm was severed at the time off the incident. If Sam would have in fact not been human and had not been affected to react to seeing an arm, maybe he would have waited for police instead of “Freaking Out”.
So if that was the case, who would be at fault? Would Mr. Choke come under more fire as he did in the civil lawsuit of being responsible? Would Mr V have been disgraced as a drunk who faced an uncertain fate on his military record for such stunt devil acts? Mr Choke is free and clear, Mr V was given a medical discharge with benefits for a drunken act of his own doing. No one told Mr. V to jump on the side of a moving vehicle.
I think what the article is trying to portrait is that when does a consequence ever end? The answer is never. Even after sentencing and beyond the sentence itself. Some say, “till justice is served..”. Well as citizens we entrust upon the judicial system to determine that, but understand the sentence isn’t the only punishment a criminal receives. This idea of “just desserts” is arbitrary, as it goes on to hunt the lives of criminals to the point where the criminal can become the victim as well. Even in crimes less severe or committed as a juvenile.
I think Sam has paid for this mistake and will continue to pay for the actions of not only his, but of all three involved in this case. Rightfully so?
Anyone who can throw a human arm in a dumpster is scum, period, point blank, jdsmith. He isnt the only one who has committed a crime and had to endure the consequences (myself included). Thats life. The disheartening part of it all is that he STILL doesn’t take any responsibility for his own actions, showing he still hasnt learned his lesson. Probably because of the teeny slap on the wrist he received.
… should a guy who ended up with a severed arm in his Jeep through no fault of his own …
I submit had “Sam” been in the right frame of mind (thus, not drunk like the others and/or so-called “normal”) he would not have “freaked out” and driven away, thrown the severed arm away and lied to police.
I submit that “Sam” was similarly intoxicated as the two others … because usually those are the ones who cowardly flee an accident lest they be charged with intoxication as well … just sayin’.
There are so many holes in this one particular account of this well-documented story that an obscenely drunk person driving in a Jeep could have driven through them and not hit an edge. Why was this even published? Are there any editors at the Weakly who read these things before they are published???