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Facebook Lands Drunk Driving Teen In Jail

Posted by timothy on from the lesson-keeps-on-getting-learned dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post reports that 18-year-old Jacob Cox-Brown has been arrested after telling his Facebook network that he had hit a car while driving drunk, posting the message: 'Drivin drunk ... classsic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P' Two of Cox-Brown's friends saw the message and sent it along to two separate local police officers and after receiving the tip, police went to Cox-Brown's house and were able to match a vehicle there to one that had hit two others in the early hours of the morning. Police then charged the teen with two counts of failing to perform the duties of a driver. 'Astoria Police have an active social media presence,' says a press release from Astoria Police. 'It was a private Facebook message to one of our officers that got this case moving, though. When you post ... on Facebook, you have to figure that it is not going to stay private long.'"

12 of 443 comments (clear)

  1. How is this gasping news by FunkyLich · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the price you pay for being immature.
    You know you have done something wrong (1.drive drunk 2.smash a car and the incident is the effect of a cause that is you alone, in wrongdoing). You look around, make sure noone sees you and when this turns out to be positive, you keep your fucking mouth shut. QED.

    1. Re:How is this gasping news by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or if you're a real man, you leave your number under his windshield wiper, fess up (to the hit, not the drinking) and pay for the damage.

      Then you stop being a murderous punk-ass little bitch who'd drink and then handle a giant steel lethal weapon.

    2. Re:How is this gasping news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How does being "a real man" entitle you to "ignore" the far more serious crime of drunk driving?

    3. Re:How is this gasping news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except it's unlikely that you would learn your lesson if you get off so lightly. That is why DUI penalties are so harsh, so that you don't easily forget.

      Punishment is not the cause of good judgment. Doing things just to avoid punishment is the very opposite of having your own judgment.

      Think about it for a minute and it will dawn on you just how simple that really is. Punishments are for people who for whatever reason, fail to develop their own good judgment. They cannot control themselves internally so we make laws to control them externally.

    4. Re:How is this gasping news by cheekyjohnson · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, because unless they are mentally retarded, they know, without question, that alcohol and drugs affects their mind and motor skills before ever consuming any and before ever climbing into the driver's seat.

      They probably know it affects their mind and motor skills, but to what degree do they think it will affect their ability to drive? At any rate, I highly doubt they intended to harm anyone, so I would indeed say it's a mistake on their part. That doesn't at all mean I think they should be let off, though.

      --
      Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
    5. Re:How is this gasping news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Sorry, but drunk drivers deserve whatever they get. Once you've had multiple family members killed by drunk drivers, you'll feel a little different about it. And no, these weren't first time offenders, either. For one it was his 5th offense, for another it was his 15th offense, and for the third it was was 17th offense. In the second "accident", the victim was unrecognizable because she (and the motor) had been relocated to the back seat of the car. The only way they knew it was her was because: 1) it was her car, 2) she had a distinctive bracelet on one hand, and 3) she'd just been on the phone with relatives and had relayed her location, which was just a few blocks from where she was killed.

      So, I have no mercy for drunk drivers and I think the punitive and financial costs to these asshats should be much, MUCH, **MUCH** higher than they currently are. As it is, there is no incentive for them to learn from their mistakes and they do not.

  2. Re:Nice friends by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do you wait until your friend kills someone before you do the right thing?

    --
    Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
  3. Re:Social Snitching. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Some poor guy's car get wrecked up by an asshole and you are only worried protecting the asshole from paying the consequences? Snitching is absolutely and completely ethical if you are reporting an immoral or unethical act. If an asshole has hurt another person, then you have a duty to snitch. The case where snitching is unethical is when you report a 'crime' that hurts nobody (drug use is a good example).

  4. Re:Nice friends by TheGoodNamesWereGone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You! Out of the gene pool! The little shit could've killed someone, and you're worried that someone told on him?

  5. Re:Social Snitching. by Black+LED · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Or even worse, hurting or killing someone else.

  6. Good by Arancaytar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    1. Tell people about a crime you committed.
    2. Get caught.

    Glad that still works.

  7. Re:Social Snitching. by SternisheFan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This. Next time he hits a car there might be somebody in it.

    And there *will* be a next time if you approve of his behavior by inaction (ie. not "snitching").

    Exactly. His friends reporting him ARE being his friends. Hopefully, this is a wake-up call that, if he wizens up to, will keep his future from being filled with regret and manslaughter charges. If he doesn't, his irresponsibility will wreck more than just his own selfish existence.