Elwood Gutshall was charged in March, but apparently police just had to share this case.

It used to be that the United States had a national purpose and a sense of community. For years, America had a commitment to common social goals as evidenced by Roosevelt's New Deal, Kennedy's New Frontier and Johnson's Great Society. That now seems a distant memory. After the Reagan-Bush years came Bill Clinton and another decade of selfishness and corporate greed. Although the books were eventually balanced, it was at the expense of the neediest as the gap between the haves and the have-nots widened into a chasm.

I'm not saying having a drink should be a punishable offence. I am saying that as a society and as individuals, we tend to be rather cavalier about our general attitude towards alcohol. Nonchalant about the powerful impact it can have on one's faculties, decision-making and motor skills, among other things.

"I am listening in vain for my kids to call out my name and I don't hear them. I don't have anyone left to call me mom."

It's clear that Mr. Muzzo's parents adore him, but I wonder if his parents had tried to intervene earlier on, calling him on his drinking, his fast driving and his general risk-taking behaviour. I wonder if more input from his parents could have prevented this tragedy from happening.

The incident happened during a roadside strip search.