Kevin Grady

[Glenn]

Report shows Grady was asleep at wheel

Saturday, August 16, 2008
By Barton Deiters
The Grand Rapids Press

WYOMING -- Wyoming Police Officer Kevin Meany says when he approached a white GMC Yukon in the early hours of July 2, the driver, football standout Kevin Grady, was passed out behind the wheel with the car running and in drive. Grady was unconscious and his foot was on the brake.

Meany said he reached inside through the driver's window, put the car in park and turned off the ignition.

The car was stopped in the southbound lane of Byron Center Avenue SW, just north of 44th Street at the stoplight.

"After several attempts, Mr. Grady woke up," Meany wrote in his report, which was requested by The Press and released Friday. "(Grady) stated that he was just trying to get home."

Grady was given a breathalyzer test, which showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.281 -- more than three times Michigan's standard for drunken driving.

Grady, the former East Grand Rapids High School standout and member of the University of Michigan football team, was scheduled to be in court Thursday for a jury trail, but instead pleaded guilty on July 30 to driving while intoxicated.

A judge sentenced Grady to report for probation for 12 months -- which he also can do in Ann Arbor. He will have to pay for his own random drug and alcohol testing, will not be allowed in bars and taverns and will be fined $1,290 by Wyoming and $2,000 by the state for its Driver's Responsibility Fee.

His license is suspended for a month starting today and then it will be restricted until Feb. 11, allowing him to drive only to court-approved locations, according to the Secretary of State's office.

This was Grady's first drinking and driving offense, according to state records. He will be required to do either 24 hours of community service or spend three days in jail, and he will have to go to classes about decision-making and the impact of drunken driving.

Officer David Thompson said Grady told police he had had a "couple of shots" at Monte's Bar on Bridge Street NW.

"Mr. Grady thought he was on the East Beltline and driving home to Ada from the downtown area," Thompson wrote.

The officer also wrote that Grady was off-balance and unable to recite the alphabet, with Thompson quoting Grady as saying "O, R, S, J, L, P." Thompson said he asked for a number between 12 and 14, and Grady answered "15." And when asked whether Mickey Mouse is a dog or a cat, he answered "dog."

Grady was brought before Judge Pablo Cortes in Wyoming District Court after 9 a.m. for arraignment on July 2, but the judge found that Grady was incapable of acknowledging the charges at that time.

Grady has returned to college in Ann Arbor where he practices with the team, but football coach Rich Rodriguez recently said the junior running back has been suspended from "actual games." Rodriguez said it is possible Grady could work his way back into a playing role.

Grady was unavailable for comment.

[Glenn]

Grady was unconscious and his foot was on the brake.

If you are asleep/passed out are you really "unconscious"?

[MoTown]

Is there anyone else that wishes they were present for the questioning during bolded paragraph? Those cops had to be having the time of their life with that. I would have wanted to jump in to ask Grady some questions as well.

[Jethro34]

Personally I'm pissed about this. As a society, do we care about drunk driving or not? Grady could have easily killed someone. 12 months probation is a joke. There's no reason he shouldn't be doing jail time.

[WTFchris]

I agree. Especially when someone is passed out and that incoherent when you get him up. Just because he didn't kill someone doesn't mean he wasn't darn close to doing it. My old boss got busted for drunken driving and while he didn't drink and drive while on probation, I'm not sure he actually learned anything.

[MoTown]

That's a society thing, IMO. How many friends do you have or people you know that have been busted for a DUI, but they got off with a hefty ticket and a slap on the wrist. People say "that's so stupid, he/she should know better" but nothing more. However, if that same event were to occur and he/she would have run over a kid, he/she would be a monster for the rest of their life and spend years in jail for that mistake.

I'm not making any excuse for Grady, nor do I condone any drinking or driving. Society needs stricter rules for DUIs or better public transportation so they can be avoided.

[WTFchris]

Well, I've never driven drunk, period. Maybe buzzed a couple times but there's no way I was even close to drunk at all. It's just plain stupid. %90 of the parties I've been to were either on campus within walking distance, or I stayed at that house for the night. If I went to a bar I either cut myself off so I'm ok to drive, or get a cab (or someone else was fine to drive).

[Glenn]

I drove home impaired one night after a work event about 6 or 7 years ago (open bar, Heineken). When I got home, I realized how stupid and irresponsible it was and have not touched a drop of alcohol and then gotten behind the wheel, since.

Not even one beer.

[MoTown]

I've been buzzed before and have thought back to how stupid it is. You're fine when you're in college and you have no excuse because everything is close by, but it is tougher out of college. I don't drink anymore than the occasional beer at dinner more than once a year, but I can remember moments a couple of years ago when I might have been over the limit. I wish I could take those nights back.

[Fool]

This is why I always drank with a 6'4 350+ motherfucker. Dude was always fine by they time we were heading home.