Cops black flag Little Al! Unser Jr. arrested for DUI
Uh-oh. Little Al is in trouble again. AP is reporting that Al Unser Jr. is under arrest and facing DUI charges after leaving the scene of an accident on the Las Vegas Beltway. He was ID'd as the driver of a car that sideswiped another car around 11 Thursday morning. Unser's car didn't have much damage but the other car hit the center median. Neither driver reported any injuries. Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Kevin Honea said Unser failed sobriety tests before they took him in. Among the charges Little Al faces are driving under the influence, misdemeanor hit and run, failure to render aid in an accident and failure to report an accident. Junior has had previous problems with alcohol and even went through treatment after the 2002 incident where he allegedly hit his girlfriend in the face.
Thanks for the tip, mavkato!
[Source: AP via Sports Illustrated]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adam 3:36PM (1/26/2007)
Breakfast Beer?
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USCTrojan4JC 3:45PM (1/26/2007)
Out of respect for the man, I would appreciate it if you kept the original photo of "Little Al" smiling up and not the one it was just changed to.
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Ohh bacon 4:22PM (1/26/2007)
So I guess the whole "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" thing isnt true.
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John Neff 3:58PM (1/26/2007)
After some reflection, we replaced the second photo of Al guzzling champaigne on the podium with this one. We didn't own the rights to the first photo, so we weren't going back to that, and while I feel for the guy because I know a few addicts myself, a "smiling" Al Unser Jr. doesn't quite convey what we're going for here.
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ryan 4:05PM (1/26/2007)
This is crazy, the crash happened on I-215 and ended at Horizon & US-95 one exit before my house! Small world, but it is Vegas, the town you can go 100mph anytime and never get a ticket (trust me). Too many murders to waste time on speeding I guess.
Plus Nevada Highway Patrol is not all that motivated, due to the fact that Metro (Las Vegas) pays more $$$ and from what I understand is the goal of most NHP officers.
Being from Washington state where there are overfunded police depts, "speeding" was 5mph over the limit. Man, out here if your not going 80-90 in the fast lane you will get plowed over. Also the amount of people running red lights are unreal, but the intersections are so big that even at a yellow light by the time your all of the way through it will be red, then it takes forever to turn green again.
I do love the desert driving!
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JJM3 4:18PM (1/26/2007)
Sad ...
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rw 4:43PM (1/26/2007)
Whatever his demons are I hope he gets them driven out. I have great respect for his driving talents. I hope his champion drive will help him overcome this addiction.
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far jr 7:13PM (1/26/2007)
I hope he gets treated like any other person would (you or me) under similar circumstances... but he will not... he will get off easy.
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Steve Parker 10:54PM (1/26/2007)
Those of us who know Al and the family and know what they have gone through ... and how Al was treated by his dad and uncle for so many years ... are very upset ... Race car drivers definitely have 'addictive personalities'. Their gateway 'drug', of course, is adrenaline. Add to the mix the kind of depression which Al Jr. has suffered from his whole life, and you have a person with some tough, tough problems to overcome. His first stint in rehab ended early; I think he left after only 5-6 days. Perhaps he'll take this chance to try again. God belss him and keep him in your thoughts and prayers. This guy is one of the greatest racers of all time. It's not his fault he was raised by a bunch of rednecks in an Albuquerque junkyard.
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Mike G 12:47PM (1/27/2007)
So I guess "one of the greatest racers of all time" couldn't handle a freeway exit in broad daylight, and then, to add insult to injury, couldn't manage to get away? You'd think a racer would be able to escape the scene, if he was going to go that route.
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Mike 1:43PM (1/27/2007)
They should make a drunk Indy league. They could get all the top divers and have them doing 200mph wasted, would kick so much ass!
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Steve Parker 5:48PM (1/27/2007)
Mike-
There already IS an "impaired driver" event as you suggest. It's called NASCAR. He he heee!
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tom p 10:03PM (2/03/2007)
My freinds and I were talking to Al at about 10:15 am on thursday and he was realy drunk if we had known he was going to try to drive we would have drove him home sorry
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