Mitchel Anderson, age 42, was not bright enough to understand that getting into a car driven by a drunk drive was a bad idea.
After getting drink, he chose to get into a car with two other drunks — one of whom was driving.
Anderson was riding around with his drunken friends on Fountain Boulevard just more than a year ago when cops pulled them over. The driver was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after failing his roadside tests.
In what should be considered a merciful decision, cops told Mitchel and the other drunken passenger to take a walk. They had no probable cause for arresting them, so sending them away on foot was logical. Society expects able-bodied adults to manage their own transportation needs.
The walk didn’t go so well for just about an hour after it began, Mitchel stumbled in front of an oncoming car. His injuries were severe. He lost his left leg above the knee and was in a coma for 30 days. It’s fair to pity and pray for Mitchel, but we must also acknowledge that stuff like this happens to people who get too drunk in public. It is just a good thing Mitchel was on foot, and not at the controls of a car.
Whoever hit Mitchel should probably sue him. For it was Mitchel’s s poor decisions that caused him to act stupidly. As a result, some innocent driver has to go through life with memories of a traumatic collision that brought severe pain and suffering to a pedestrian.
Mitchel now says the public owes him. and, incredibly, is suing. He has filed a federal lawsuit against the police department and the two officers who turned him loose on a walk.