Mrs. Dunn tries to run down a cop
Alcoholic Antic-of-the-Month
Story from “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with his “tagline:”
“JUST PASSING THROUGH: When a car crashed into the front of police headquarters in East Windsor, Conn., an officer ran to investigate. The driver, a 68-year-old woman, was fine, but when she saw the officer, police say, she backed up her car and tried to run him down, crashing into the building again. She then flipped the cop off and drove away. Officers pursued the car and arrested Lillian Dunn about a mile away. During a court hearing Dunn repeatedly interrupted the judge, who warned her that she would be gagged if she didn’t be quiet. ‘Go ahead,’ Dunn urged. ‘Shove it!’ She has been charged with criminal attempt to commit assault, criminal mischief, driving with a suspended license, and drunk driving. (Hartford Courant) …Gosh: how come we saw that last charge coming from a mile away?”
And you would think we’d see a charge of public intoxication in a courtroom. However, she may or may not have been under the influence while figuratively flipping off the judge, since alcoholics’ behaviors between drinking episodes can be just as awful as when under the influence.
Despite her age, Lillian Dunn exhibited a number of early-stage behavioral indications of alcoholism on the road and in the courtroom. She attempted to seriously injure someone–a cop–and crashed (clues # 28 and 31 in Appendix 1 of How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics: Using Behavioral Clues to Identify Alcoholism in its Early Stages), in this case purposely into a police station. She made obscene gestures (clue # 2 under “Supreme Being Complex” in Get Out of the Way! How to Identify and Avoid a Driver Under the Influence), which alone indicates a 60% probability of DUI and likely alcoholism. She attempted to evade arrest, which if not a felony should be. A case is made in Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse, that 80-90% of felonies are committed by alcohol or other-drug addicts. In court, she was rude and verbally abusive (clues # 15 and 27 in Hidden Alcoholics). Any one of these clues is a strong indicator of addiction, but in conjunction they are damning evidence.
What’s extraordinary is that so many alcoholics go for decades acting badly. Many may have been sober for extended periods and experienced relapses, which codependents suffer from. Such may be the case for one of this month’s Runners-Up, actor Gary Collins. This was not true, however, for actress Bette Davis, whose story I recount in Drunks, Drugs & Debits. Except perhaps for one two-year period during mid-life, she appears to have drunk heavily from start to finish.
The fact that Ms. Dunn’s alcoholism was not nipped in the bud could have cost a police officer his life. There is little doubt there have been dozens or even hundreds of incidents for which the law could have already intervened in Ms. Dunn’s addiction. Perhaps the judge will finally say, “Enough!”and impose not only proper consequences on her–but also just ones, including a requirement of permanently abstaining from all psychotropic drugs for whatever remains of her life. If there are any sober members of her family still talking to her, they will be the biggest beneficiaries–and among those no longer in contact, the most deserving beneficiaries of the judge’s power.
(Story and tagline from “This is True,” copyright 2007 by Randy Cassingham, used with permission.)