Wednesday, September 06, 2006

9.5.6 - Longview to Astoria



Well...if ya think Mayor Peterson has problems, consider the plight of Astoria mayor, Willis Van Dusen who was arrested on a drunken driving charge after his motorcyle collided with a pickup on Monday. (Labor Day)

Van Dusen, 53, Astoria's mayor for 16 years, has filed to run for a fifth four-year term in November. This is the third time he has been charged with drunken driving.

Police said Van Dusen was driving a Harley Davidson motorcycle Monday night when he struck the passenger side of a pickup that pulled into an intersection.

Van Dusen was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for a head injury and released.

Witnesses at the scene and Trooper Gary Martin, who interviewed Van Dusen at the hospital, said Van Dusen was visibly intoxicated, state police Sgt. Andrew Merila said.

Van Dusen refused to give a blood sample and was cited and released at the hospital for driving under the influence of intoxicants. Wilson was cited for failing to obey a traffic device, driving uninsured and not having a driver's license. Both vehicles were towed from the scene and impounded.

The mayor did not immediately return a phone call by The Associated Press.

Van Dusen was charged with drunken driving in 1989, when his car was seen swerving on its way into Pendleton on Interstate 84, The Daily Astorian reported. The case was dismissed and he was sent to a diversion program on May 23, 1990. He completed diversion from that arrest in 1991.

On May 19, 1994, Astoria police arrested Van Dusen for DUII after spotting his car swerving from side to side. He pleaded guilty June 8, 1994, and was sentenced to a mandatory one-year license suspension, a fine and 80 hours of community service in lieu of a two-day jail sentence.

Clatsop County District Attorney Josh Marquis said he has yet to review Van Dusen's case, and he will probably send it to another county for prosecution.

Maybe Van Dusen needs to learn a thing or two from Mayor Peterson (and Monty Python) on "how not to be seen".

he-he,
-Tom

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

...mayors!

Anonymous said...

this guys a piece of shit. always has been