LITTLETON - The families of two young men killed in a drunk driving accident want the stiffest penalty for a store clerk who prosecutors say sold alcohol to one of their sons who used a fake ID.
So, wait. A liquor store clerk sold someone some alcohol and now the parents of the children who were killed by their drunk driving accident want the clerk to be penalized?
Obviously there's more to the story. Let's read on, shall we?
The parents of Paul Ondrish and Brandon Nichols, who were both 20 years old, admit their sons made poor choices, but say the store clerk should have been more responsible.
So, these kids weren't technically children after all, they were 20 years old.
Alarm bells are beginning to ring.
The clerk, 25-year-old Loc Truong, pleaded guilty on Thursday to selling Ondrish the liquor on July 12, 2006.
"There were a series of mistakes made that night, but it started when the store clerk sold alcohol to a minor," said Frank Ondrish, Paul's father.
Early the next morning, Ondrish crashed, killing both him and Nichols. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.
The other three passengers, all of whom were 20 years old, were also injured.
Truong was working at Marina Pointe Liquors at Chatfield and Wadsworth in Littleton.
Ondrish bought rum from him using his brother's expired Michigan driver's license as ID, according to the DA's office.
A series of mistakes that started when the store clerk sold alcohol to a minor?
Actually, no. One of the first mistakes was for a kid to use his brother's expired ID to try to buy booze.
One might argue that the parents made the first mistake somewhere along the line, but why quibble.
Let's move on.
"Stores with a liquor license have a great responsibility to follow the law," said Patti Ondrish, Paul's mother.
"People who walk into liquor stores to buy booze have a great responsibility to follow the law," said Clark, father of a daughter.
The alarm bells have become a siren.
A liquor store clerk making probably $8.50 an hour does have a responsibility to follow the law, but NO MORE SO than two 20 year olds that intentionally walk into a liquor store to buy rum using fraudulent identification. Luc Truong is not the proximate cause of their accident; the proximate cause of the accident seems to be their deciding to purchase booze for their drive into the mountains, then doing it. Luc Truong was unfortunate, but not a criminal.
This man does not deserve to go to jail.
However, these parents, as much as I feel for their loss as a parent myself (and I do mean that), do deserve a lesson on the effects of cognitive dissonance.
Unless there is a significant amount more to this story than meets the eye, I would have to say that a reasonable person could not find that this 25 year old liquor store clerk deserves to lose his job, his liberty, and possibly his very future because two 20 year olds decided to defraud him and his employer and successfully buy alcohol.
Free Luc Truong.
Parents, dead children, jail, and lawsuits.
This story stains the memory of the young and dead, and once again, personal responsibility surrenders.
3 comments:
That story had me so incensed, I had to comment on KUSA's website along with 25 (at that time) other irritated news-viewers. The clerk has to pay a penalty for being presented fake ID? Another case of parents displacing blame. Any choices one makes comes with good and bad consequences. It's sad the sons made the wrong choices, but the parents feel-sorry-for-us tone irked me. My sympathy goes out to Loc Troung and his family. Lisa
I am upset about all the blame that is being passed around, as well. The 20-year-olds who chose to break the law and use a fake ID are dead. They cannot be charged with a felony because their choices led them to death. Death is a consequence of their actions. They were not children. They cognitively knew what they were doing when they broke the law. They knew what they were doing when they got in the car. They knew what they were doing when they didn't wear their seatbelts. People are so quick to point fingers at someone else. That's the American way. Ridiculous. I agree the store clerk should not have sold to the person with an expired ID because that is also the law. It is a tragic course of events that happened. The only simple course of action is to lower the drinking age to zero, then everyone is held accountable for their actions, as it should be. Millions of dollars would be saved in enforcing the drinking age laws. Children would learn at an early age about the responsibilities that come with using alcohol.
I am a liquor store clerk in a state where we control liquor, and this scenario is standard here. Being able to recognize fake IDs is part of the job. I'm not saying the clerk should go to jail, but he didn't do his job. He should at least be reprimanded at work.
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