How Not to Respond to Your Son’s Wreck
[Guest post by DRJ]
Has anyone seen this Duluth, Minnesota, story?
“A 17-year-old Duluth boy is charged in a car crash that left a teenager with severe injuries, and his father is accused of helping him try to cover the accident up.”
Read the whole thing. Apparently the local response was emotional because a subsequent story quotes the victim Zadie asking people not to retaliate on her behalf.
Through his attorney, Wilczek denied they stopped at his house and claims he took Zadie to her home because it was closer than the hospital.
Some people panic in a crisis but this just sounds bad.
— DRJ
the instinct to protect your kid is the mostest powerfulest one ever
happyfeet (19c1da) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:46 pmNot to that extent. I can guarantee I would never, ever do something like that for either of my kids.
BradnSA (980254) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:48 pmFor most people, having and loving a child makes it easier to understand that all kids are precious.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:50 pmyou would be surprised the secrets people keep
happyfeet (19c1da) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:51 pmor maybe you wouldn’t be surprised at all not even a little
happyfeet (19c1da) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:54 pmI agree parents can do some strange things.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:57 pmSounds bad? Sounds?
He clearly was hoping to avoid his son’s alcohol level being tested or observed. Every minute of delay helped reduce that level, whatever it was. Now, under a “reasonable man” standard, seeing an emaciated face, his refusal to go straight to a hospital is absolutely felonious. I hope he enjoys his prison sentence.
It seems there never was an actual test of the perp son’s BA level. I guarantee if it would have been tested and was over 1.8 or so (which it probably was) the sentencing for the kid would be much more severe. Now there is some doubt. If I am the judge, I throw the book at the dad and give the kid a bit of a break.
Ed from SFV (f0e1cb) — 6/19/2010 @ 8:58 pmI have sympathy for everyone involved and I hope everyone goes on to have happy lives
happyfeet (19c1da) — 6/19/2010 @ 9:10 pmhappyfeet channeling nk?
Icy Texan (a2701d) — 6/19/2010 @ 10:26 pmIf only he’d been a Kennedy…
Jennifer (7c13ca) — 6/19/2010 @ 10:29 pmThis is a good father. R.I.P.
DRJ (d43dcd) — 6/19/2010 @ 10:33 pmIcy Texan – I’m sure nk would have taught his daughter never to get into a car with a drunk driver and would have held the lad blameless when his daughter did not listen.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/19/2010 @ 10:51 pmNah, my daughter would have been on her Harley and if her boyfriend on the bitchpad got hurt I’d just bury him in an Indiana cornfield.
It’s almost flattering that I loom so large in your minds, but what the **** do I have to do with this discussion?
nk (db4a41) — 6/19/2010 @ 11:11 pmNK would also have counseled his daughter to stab such a drunken driver with a flick knife he fabricated from a kit he bought on the streets years ago, or invited him in for refreshments depending on whether he had taken his meds or not.
Gazzer (d79016) — 6/19/2010 @ 11:14 pmOn a more serious note and leaving Jackie Chiles aside, there is a huge difference between protecting your kid and contributing to their delinquence in the vain hope of helping them avoid the consequences of their actions. Huge.
Gazzer (d79016) — 6/19/2010 @ 11:18 pmhappyfeet’s #8 reminded me of you! So be flattered, swear monkey!!!
Icy Texan (a2701d) — 6/19/2010 @ 11:38 pmThis 18-year-old does not strike me as someone who would learn from the experience. He will likely repeat this behavior, perhaps with fatal consequences for him or others.
navyvet (206534) — 6/20/2010 @ 4:50 amCorrect me if I’m wrong, but, isn’t 17 a tad under the legal drinking age? If “Dad” was such a saint where was he when junior was getting drunk? My guess is that “Dad” was a role model of such stellar behavior.
Sorry Happy, there aren’t any happy endings when people refuse to accept responsibility for their actions. The boy screwed up by engaging in an illegal act. The girl screwed up by placing herself in a dangerous situation (don’t tell me she didn’t know he’d been drinking). And “Dad” screwed up by enabling and then trying to cover up that his son was a screw-up.
Consequences.
PatriotRider (8d9a6f) — 6/20/2010 @ 6:13 amThis young man and his father both deserve some serious jail time.
fgmorley (10aa8c) — 6/20/2010 @ 6:17 amIn Deluth, Wilczek is the way they pronounce van der Sloot.
ropelight (1bceee) — 6/20/2010 @ 8:24 amThis sounds like something out of All the King’s Men. Too bad this kid didn’t take a page out of Tom Stark’s book.
Also… never mind.
Leviticus (30ac20) — 6/20/2010 @ 8:27 amHere’s a story with a little more information, but it doesn’t make things look better. Previous DWI? Helicopter parents?
htom (412a17) — 6/20/2010 @ 8:39 amhtom – Actually, the no cell coverage and delay finding the accident scene do help some if true. The area around Duluth is not exactly densely populated. A panicked yout’s reaction of calling a parent is not unusual. How the police were informed of the accident is unclear, presumably by the hospital. The parent and driver failure to report the accident is where the problem starts, apart from the alleged drunk driving. Many of the police departments in my area give drivers an hour to self report accidents before charging them with leaving the scene, etc.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/20/2010 @ 9:57 amDaleyrocks – Don’t have time to read all of the linked articles but if he could not call the authorities, how did he call his Dad?
Have Blue (854a6e) — 6/20/2010 @ 10:07 amHave Blue – It said he drove a little down the road and then ran 1/4 mile to where he got a signal. Those areas are funny, no bars one minute, 100 yards later you have reception. It is pretty remote outside the city.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/20/2010 @ 10:15 amHave Blue – Then the article said it took the father a long time to locate the wreck in the rain.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/20/2010 @ 10:17 amPretty easy to suss out: dad, whose own alcoholism has led his 17 year old son into heavy drinking, is a scumbag that has now aided and abetted his son’s criminally negligent and/or outright criminal behavior.
Happy Fathers Day!
Icy Texan (a2701d) — 6/20/2010 @ 10:20 amIcy Texan – Take a look at a map. Long winters in Duluth.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/20/2010 @ 10:59 amI’ve lived in the mountains and know well the problems of “modern” communication*. I think the kid did ok in driving, and then walking/running, to get to a place to call for help. An A or A+ from me for that part; it’s what he did then that really spoils it (well, the drinking before driving … but that’s a different pet peeve of mine), call parents, then call 911 is understandable and acceptable (911 then parents would have been better.) Call parents, wait for parents, wait for truck, change clothes, deliver victim to home rather than hospital … no, no, no, no, no. Wait for Dad then call 911 … so close to the line I’m not sure which way to call it.
*Long time commenters will remember a hypothetical I posed where a drunken snowshoer finds a diabetic in a car in a forest. I was neither the diabetic nor the drunken driver in that incident.
htom (412a17) — 6/20/2010 @ 1:41 pmhtom – I swear half the times I’ve been in taverns late at night up that direction or in Northern Wisconsin, the locals are comparing notes on how many DUIs or DWIs they’ve gotten.
daleyrocks (1d0d98) — 6/20/2010 @ 1:53 pmHe’s a distant relation of the Kennedys, right?
Anon 1:50 (ab0a05) — 6/20/2010 @ 4:30 pmdaley, if it was still winter LAST FRIDAY, then that’s a very long winter indeed.
Icy Texan (30a2d8) — 6/21/2010 @ 3:16 am