Drunk Driving in Missaukee County

We all know that a firefighter, DougShaw, was arrested for drunk driving on December 27th, and he has been suspended (but he had already called LMFD Deputy Chief Keith Lounsbery and resigned).

I've seen and heard some crazy stuff, such as:

I think it is a joke that he was allowed to drive the truck back to the fire barn than arrested. Why after everything is done and over, was he arrested. Sounds like someone had a grudge. Instead of calling police,they should have called Doug and had him pull over immmediatly, than call police if needed.

-posted by Bryan on 1/16/09 at 9&10 News

Well, idiot...let me explain, the Deputy Chief did not know until Shaw had left the scene that he was intoxicated. They should not have resorted to your little plan of calling Shaw, having him pull over and then calling the police if needed because the Deputy Chief did what he was supposed to do, call the police as soon as he became aware that there might be a crime. If my explanation isn't working for you, try this:

Deputy Fire Chief Keith Lounsbery told the board that he was too busy keeping an eye on his firefighters to be aware of a possibly intoxicated firefighter. But he says he called police as soon as it was suggested that Shaw might be drunk.

"It was reported to me and I reported it to the Sheriff's Department that a crime may be occurring," Lounsbery told the board.

-9&10 News, 1/13/09

Okay, there may be a grudge going on, but it's not against Shaw.

On one side, some firefighters say the initial reaction from at least one member of the board was to question why and criticize the department officers, Lounsbery and Chief Rick Bradley, for reporting Shaw to law enforcement in the first place.

Lounsbery's wife Michelle, also a LMFD firefighter, told the Sentinel her husband and Bradley were looking at being fired Tuesday-not for Shaw's drink driving of a department vehicle under their watch, but for bringing it to light in the first place.

-Missaukee Sentinel, 1/16/09

Now that sounds like some real Missauke County attitude. I wonder, just who was that one member of the Lake Missaukee Fire Authority Board who thought that a drunk driver should not have been reported to law enforcement. Perhaps the board needs a shake-up and some new members.

BTW, Shaw is due in court today.