Some people get all the breaks
Loopholes allow Springfield man to drive after four DUI arrests
CRIME | Patrick Yeagle
Just after midnight on Nov. 6, 2010, a Riverton Police officer noticed a blue pickup truck speeding down the street by Riverton High School. The truck slammed on the brakes to avoid rear-ending a car stopped at the four-way stop, then screeched through the intersection, following the first car closely and blowing through the stop sign.
The police officer followed the truck and observed it “having difficulty maintaining a steady course of travel.
“The truck was going from riding close to the centerline to riding close to the edge of the road,” the police report notes. The officer pulled over the truck, driven by Gregory T. Selinger, then 42, of Springfield, and smelled “a strong odor of alcohol coming from the cab of the truck.”
Selinger is an employee of City Water, Light & Power – one of three employees accused of hanging nooses in CWLP facilities. In September 2010, Selinger and fellow CWLP employees Kevin Conway and Bradley Barber were cleared by a grand jury of any criminal wrongdoing for their involvement. Gregory Selinger is also the nephew of the city’s Human Resources director, Larry Selinger.
When Gregory Selinger was arrested in Riverton in November, the arresting officer reported noticing “Selinger’s eyes were glassy, and when he spoke, he slurred and mumbled his speech.
“When asked for his insurance card, Selinger had difficulty finding it,” the officer wrote in his report. “His movement toward his glove box and back seemed very labored, as did the movement of his head. It appeared to take all of Selinger’s concentration to locate his insurance card.”
After running Selinger’s license and insurance, the officer asked Selinger to exit the truck and perform a field sobriety test.
“At that time, Selinger said in a slurred voice that he had three kids at home and asked if I could help him out,” the officer reported. “I again asked him to step out of the vehicle and he stated, ‘Help me out, man.’ I then told Selinger to step out of the vehicle and I opened the door. Selinger stepped out and while doing so, he had to take a couple of steps to stabilize himself. Selinger tried to plea his case again by bringing up his children again. While doing this I observed Selinger swaying forward and backward.”
Selinger refused to perform the field sobriety test, then said he would, then refused once more and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. A search of his truck yielded two open containers of beer under the driver’s seat, along with an open 12-pack with several bottles missing.
