LexFather

http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/...TES01/80219012

CINCINNATI -- Three decades of drunken driving have finally caught up with 19-time offender Stephen W. Wolf -- thanks largely to a pair of quick-acting young men.

Wolf, 50, of Hamilton, faces up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced today on his 19th drunken-driving conviction, authorities say - ranking him as one of the five worst repeat drunken drivers in all of Ohio.

Among the state's 1 million convicted drunken drivers, just three motorists have as many convictions as Wolf - and only two drivers have 20, according to state records.

Wolf's lawyer, Robert Qucsai, says Wolf should not be judged by his driving record alone.

"He's a really personable guy. He's really easy to talk to. He's not nearly as bad as his record would reflect," Qucsai said Monday.

Even Qucsai acknowledges that people ask him: How could Wolf still be driving?

Qucsai's answer: "It's not like he has a valid license."

Plenty of people drive despite having a suspended or revoked license, authorities say, and locking them up is the only way to stop them from driving.

But Qucsai advocates treatment for his client. Qucsai intends to make an extensive statement on Wolf's behalf today in Butler County Common Pleas Court, Hamilton.

"He did take responsibility, and he did enter a guilty plea," Qucsai said.

Authorities say Wolf likely would not even be in court if not for Alex Heher, 20, of Fairfield Township, and his passenger, Adam Trantham, 19. They followed Wolf after seeing him in a hit-and-run crash July 13.

"We're concerned when people become involved, but I can tell you 110 percent that we never would have made the case without those boys," Assistant Prosecutor John Heinkel said.

Wolf was headed for a bar. If he had gone inside and taken a drink before he was caught, "there would have been no way to prove how much he had to drink before the accident," Heinkel said. "He would have just smiled at us and said, 'Do all the tests you want.' "

While driving near Tylersville Road and Jessie's Way in Fairfield Township, Heher heard tires squeal. He looked in his rear-view mirror and watched Wolf's 1994 Ford F-350 truck hit a sport-utility vehicle and then keep going. After the truck passed Heher, he followed it.

Almost as in an action-movie scene, parts were blowing off the damaged truck and hitting Heher's car. Oil sprayed onto Heher's windshield, obstructing his vision. He stuck his head out the window so he could see to pursue Wolf to the spot where he stopped: the Hideaway Lounge and Reef Tavern in Fairfield.

He was so drunk and off-balance, an officer wrote in the police report: "I had to help him to the cruiser so he did not fall down while he was stumbling."

The man whose vehicle Wolf had struck, David McMillan of Hamilton, avoided serious injury, but didn't get a good look at Wolf. That's why Heher's statement was so crucial, Heinkel said.

Heher said he was stunned when he learned the extent of Wolf's record and felt glad he helped stop him.

Heinkel said it would be an over-reaction to blame the court system for Wolf's lengthy record without long-term punishment.

"My guess would be that, in some of the prior cases, there were probably issues as to the (alcohol) testing, and negotiated pleas were worked out," he said.

It's hard to tell because some records are in storage or might not even be available in cases like Wolf's, where convictions date back as far as 1978.

Another factor: Felony drunken-driving charges are relatively new.

Back in the 1970s - when Wolf first started drinking and driving - all drunken-driving charges were misdemeanors. Those charges carried little or no jail time, no matter how many times a drunken driver was snared, Heinkel said.

Now, repeat drunken drivers are slapped with felonies - and a 2004 Ohio law adds one to five years for offenders with at least five drunken-driving convictions during a 20-year span.

Last month, another Butler County driver, William Pfeiffer, 44, of St. Clair Township, was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for his 12th drunken-driving conviction.

In Wolf's case, he has a prior felony drunken-driving conviction.

"And that's what made him easier to get him on this one," Heinkel said. "Sooner or later, we catch up with you. You drink and drive, you're going to go to prison - sooner or later, you will."

Lil4X

I've wondered why a person arrested and convicted of DUI - who then gets his license revoked - is treated so carefully when he is picked up on another DUI charge a few weeks or months later . . . That starts the process local cops call "catch and release" - where offenders bail out of jail before the paperwork's finished. In this case, the offender is usually back on a barstool before the case is filed.

This doesn't make sense . . . someone convicted of DUI should of course lose their license, but the next conviction should result in mandatory jail time. If the old sot can't be dried out, warehousing them in a prison facility is a poor answer, but it's all we currently have available to keep them off the street and from killing our friends and families.

MSMLexIS

What is wrong with the lawyer. Look at his comments the lawyer is an idiot.

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iTrader: (17)

that has to be some kind of record... 19

JessePS

This dude should spend life in prison. The laws have to change if its ur first DUI it will be your last or if you get caught again. You can lose your car and if they really dislike you, you can spend life in prison. That is how the law should be. It is a preemptive way to stop person from killing someone on the road.

I would be one tough as transport minister or wtv it is called in the US.

Same thing would go for stop signs and red lights.

drink300

In New Mexico, we would have just let him out again to run wild in the streets. That's what happens when you have a corrupt State Senate filled with lawmakers who would go to jail themselves if laws were toughened.

JessePS

man oh man NM needs reform. **** all the US needs to be reformed. Come on Bloomberg! Say you are running. Finally have a decent moderate voice for once in a damn election!