A 46-year-old Mount Vernon man is being held in the Skagit County Jail in lieu of $150,000 bail after being arrested for the 14th time for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Aaron Bridge was arrested Tuesday in Sedro-Woolley when a Skagit County sheriff’s deputy smelled alcohol during a traffic stop, according to Skagit County Superior Court documents. The deputy stopped Bridge for passing in a no-passing zone on Highway 20 near the South Skagit Park & Ride. Bridge was also driving with a suspended license, court documents state.

This was his 14th arrest for suspicion of DUI in 16 years.
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Bridge “cannot refrain from driving while under the influence (his) history speaks for itself. (He) is a clear danger to society,” wrote prosecuting attorney Sloan Johnson on his bail recommendation.

Then seize his car. Why wait until he gets caught driving drunk 14 times to start getting serious?

This is unacceptable.

Our tax dollars hard at work. Were they waiting for him to kill someone? If 4 convictions is a felony, how did he get to 14??

So please tell me… Are they waiting for him to kill someone???
Why has it taken this long? You were right, our tax dollars at work!

My cousin had 16 drug related offenses before she finally spent time in prison. It is no wonder that our citizens no longer take responsiblity for their own actions.  Think mortgage bailout.  If people get in over their head, they need to pay for it. Buy too much house should equal lose house, ETC.

I realise that our jail is over crowded but this is just plain stupid.  Is it going to take someone dying because of this man driving drunk another 14 times before someone finally gets the message.  Put his hind end in jail and leave him there.  I’d gladly pay higher taxes to keep this guy in prison if it will prevent him from killing someone.

this is an example of a system trying (and obviously failing MISERABLY) to “rehabilitate” someone who doesn’t WANT to be rehabilitated.  I drink...and on some occaisions I’m actually on my lips...but the difference is I make the decision to NOT DRIVE!  I’m sure the argument has been made that this (insert sarcasm here) poor man has a “disease” and needs help.  He may have a disease but he can CHOOSE not to operate the effin car!

I say take the car away and give it to a responsible person who won’t use it as a weapon.

I understand the frustration and anger but unfortunately taking the man’s vehicle will not solve anything.  There are no safe guards in place to prevent him from purchasing another vehicle.  Disease or not this man is a danger to society and needs to be locked away for our protection.

Obviously there are no safeguards in place to make sure he gets locked away either.

Very true

I understood he was to be charged with a felony DUI. What’s the sentencing range for that?

I have always found it tragic that we seem willing to tolerate around 16,000 deaths each year which are connected with drunken driving.  But, we declared a war when we lost 3,000+ equally innocent victims on 911 and we have a polarized country after 4,000+ deaths of our military members fighting the Iraq war.

It almost seems like it’s okay if we kill each other but not okay if foreigners kill us.  If it was up to me, the penalty for the first DUI would be loss of vehicle and a year in jail.  Second offense would get you 5 years and the third one would be your third strike.

As for crowded jails, don’t give me that sob story.  They’re not nearly as crowded as submarines were in my day.

“As for crowded jails, don’t give me that sob story.”

The U.S. already has more people in jail than most any country in the world and we still have the highest rates of violence and death in the world. Maybe it’s not a penal problem but something more of a unhappiness problem, an anger problem, an education problem.

Look around the next time you are at a bar. Happy Hour. You’ll see people who have obviously been over served, stumble out the door and drive drunk. So who loaded the gun? If that drunk driver is charged then let’s fine the bar and the server too.

[quote So who loaded the gun? If that drunk driver is charged then let’s fine the bar and the server too.

Total nonsense.  Hold the drunk accountable for his own actions.

Drunks arn’t accountable. They are drunk.

Turtledove, don’t waste your weak-kneed excuses for drunks on me.  Besides, I don’t go to bars.  Too many drunks in them and I don’t like being around drunks. 

Every single person who gets drunk and drives started out sober and knew what could happen if they drank too much.  And yes, I’m all for dropping the hammer on bars which overserve and I’m all for figuring out ways to keep people from getting behind the wheel when they’re incapacitated...for any reason, be it booze, drugs, grief, anger, or anything else customarily used as an excuse after using an automobile to wipe out a family.  Trouble is, there’s too many people willing to accept too many excuses so it just goes on and on.

retnfo - 02 October 2008 03:49 PM

Turtledove, don’t waste your weak-kneed excuses for drunks on me. Trouble is, there’s too many people willing to accept too many excuses so it just goes on and on.

I’m not making excuses for drunks.Over-serving is a problem. Often times the server, if not the owner, know who these people are, yet support their abuse. If drinking establishments were held more accountable for over-serving it would help prevent drunk drivers. Drunks start out sober but after a few drinks lose the ability to make responsible decisions. Of course it isn’t the whole answer to a big problem and you are right to say we accept too many excuses, too many excuses to follow thru and be accountable, as neighbors, friends, business owners, and fellow citizens.

From the Skagit Valley Herald, March 1, 2006 edition.
OLYMPIA — After money was added to the state construction budget to build more cells, the state House passed a proposal that would send repeat drunken driving offenders to prison for a minimum of 15 months.
Under the measure, sponsored by Rep. John Ahern, people caught driving under the influence five times in a span of seven years will be charged with a felony.
‘‘This bill is a long time coming,’’ said Ahern, R-Spokane. ‘‘With tougher DUI laws, we can say that our roads and our families are much safer.’’
To accommodate repeat offenders, the bill needed $9 million for minimum security prisons. The bill had initially died in the Appropriations committee because it was deemed too expensive. Under a compromise reached Monday, that money was amended to the House’s $288 million supplemental construction budget, which passed 91-6 Tuesday.
Well, Gee!! Do I feel better now?  No, I don’t.  Five DUI’s in 7 years to get a felony?  How about we just make DUI a felony, period!

Once they’re sober, they’re not a danger anymore.  The judge sends them home because they jail is full.  And I don’t think that submarine was crammed with people sleeping on floors with people who have no regard for the laws and are murderers, violent, sexual predators or drug addicts/dealers, etc.  I don’t know how all the home-monitoring works but it seems if that had been done and he blew it, then he should have been in custody.  If he’d served all his time and was more or less clear to be free, that’s different.  Once a person becomes this habitual though perhaps they need to be monitored permanently if they can’t be jailed.

Home monitoring just lets the authorities know where someone is.  It does nothing to prevent them from hitting the bottle and hopping in the car drunk.  And sobering up doesn’t stop them from getting drunk again later and driving. 

People with a record of multiple DUI’s obviously have a habitual problem and while I’m all for getting them some help, I don’t want them behind a wheel endangering you, me, my family members, or anyone else until their problem has been permanently resolved. 

Slaps on wrists and DUI school just don’t get the job done for some people and I don’t have any answers other than more and more severe penalties because leniency and understanding ain’t makin’ it!