St. Clairsville Students Learn
Booze & Cruise, You’ll Lose

February 7, 2006

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The Booze and Cruise, You’ll Lose program continued their 2006 tour of local high schools with a stop at St. Clairsville High School on Tuesday afternoon. More than 100 seniors rolled into the school’s auditorium to meet and speak with members of the Wheeling Nailers, Gold, Khourey & Turak, the WV State Police, and WTOV TV 9. The program was hosted by the high school’s Car Teens program.

Gary Sharp, “The Voice of the Nailers,” and Jill Del Greco from WTOV TV 9, served as emcees of the program and assisted the students with questions taken from the Booze Buster Quiz. Each student completed the quiz prior to the program. Attorney Christopher Turak from the Moundsville law firm of Gold, Khourey & Turak and Corporal J.A. Laing of the WV State Police teamed to provide explanations, and answered questions the students had concerning driving under the influence.

Turak pointed out, “Many young adults, and older adults for that matter, don’t realize that you can be arrested for DUI without actually consuming an alcoholic beverage.” He said, “Besides the obvious use of drugs such as marijuana, anyone who takes a prescription medication, then decides to drive, runs the risk of being arrested for driving under the influence.” Turak emphasized, “There is no difference between a D.U.I. and a D.W.I.. As long as your ability to drive a motor vehicle is impaired, you can be arrested for D.U.I. or D.W.I., regardless of your B.A.C. level.”

Cpl. J.A. Laing, an 12-year veteran of the WV State Police, explained the rigors of a D.U.I. arrest and showed the students an example of what an arrest might look like. With the use of Fatal Vision Goggles, student Andrew Poindexter simulated 0.10 intoxication and was taken through a series of field sobriety tests by Cpl. Laing. After failing multiple tests, Laing handcuffed Poindexter and placed him under “arrest.” “I know we had some fun with Andrew today,” offered Laing. “But the truth is, there are people out there that think they can drive a vehicle under this condition, and the sad thing is they continue to do so until they seriously injure or kill somebody,” said Laing.

Drew Fata and Bo Cheesman of the Wheeling Nailers shared stories about how drunk driving can not only have a direct impact on the person driving under the influence, but also those around you. Cheesman explained how one of his friends was driving drunk and was killed when he hit a tree, another friend was sober and a drunk driver hit him head-on and killed him. Both accidents occurred this season.

Fata’s brother plays in the NHL and reminded students that even being a passenger with a drunk driver can be deadly. “Former NHL player Danny Heatley was a passenger in a vehicle with a friend who was driving drunk, and was killed. His friend survived,” reminded Fata. “Now there’s a shrine in the Atlanta Thrasher’s locker room reminding everyone of the dangers of not only driving under the influence, but also being a passenger with anyone who drinks and drives.”

During the program, Debbie Fetty, a student at St. Clairsville High School, was recognized by the program for her efforts on the Booze Buster Quiz. For her efforts, Debbie was awarded tickets to a Nailers game, a t-shirt, and a Nailer’s team autographed hockey stick.

In 1992, Gold, Khourey & Turak created the Booze and Cruise, You’ll Lose program in an effort to educate the community about the legal, personal, and financial consequences of driving under the influence. Since 1978, the law firm has been committed to representing victims of alcohol-related accidents.