Ferndale

Police get 2 ‘hardcore drunks’ off the road in 2 hours

By Jeremy Selweski
C & G Staff Writer

» Click on image to view full size « William Rhodes, 50, of Detroit William Rhodes, 50, of Detroit Kevin Spates, 39, of Detroit Kevin Spates, 39, of Detroit

A pair of drunken drivers with blood-alcohol levels more than four times the legal limit were nabbed within two hours of each other by Ferndale police.

According to Detective Lt. Bill Wilson, Ferndale officers arrested a total of eight suspects for operating under the influence of alcohol between the early-morning hours of Feb. 4 and the early-morning hours of Feb. 7. Two of those arrests were made for felony drunken driving, both of which involved suspects with extremely high blood-alcohol contents and extensive driving records.

“Those two guys were both above 0.3, and one of the misdemeanor (arrests) was above 0.3 as well,” Wilson explained. “Eight drunk drivers is definitely more than we usually get in a three-day span, but what made this especially unusual is that we were able to arrest three hardcore drunks in such a short period of time.”

The first felony arrest occurred at about 10:15 p.m. on Feb. 6, Wilson said, when a Ferndale officer spotted a Ford Thunderbird near Eight Mile Road and St. Louis Street that was traveling with an improper license plate. After pulling the car over, the officer found that the driver, 39-year-old Kevin Spates of Detroit, was drunk and arrested him.

Breathalyzer tests indicated that Spates had a blood-alcohol level of approximately 0.35, well above the legal limit of 0.08. A check of his record revealed that he has 31 current suspensions of his driver’s license, four prior convictions for driving with a suspended license and two prior convictions for drunken driving.

Spates was arraigned the next day in Ferndale 43rd District Court on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol third or subsequent offense — a felony — driving with a suspended license second or subsequent offense, transporting an open liquor container and unlawful use of a license plate. Magistrate James Brennan set bond at $25,000 cash or surety and scheduled a pre-exam conference for 1 p.m. Feb. 16.

Less than two hours after Spates was arrested, Wilson said, at around 12:05 a.m. on Feb. 7, a Ferndale officer observed a minivan that was swerving back and forth on Woodward Avenue, near Oakridge Avenue. The officer stopped the vehicle, and further investigation revealed that the driver, 50-year-old William Rhodes of Detroit, was intoxicated.

Rhodes was arrested and transported back to the Ferndale Police Department, where breath tests showed a blood-alcohol content of about 0.33. His criminal record also contained 16 current license suspensions, five previous convictions for driving with a suspended license and three previous drunken driving convictions.

Later that day, Rhodes was arraigned in Ferndale District Court on charges of operating under the influence of alcohol third or subsequent offense and driving with a suspended license second or subsequent offense. As with Spates, Brennan set Rhodes’ bond at $25,000 cash or surety and scheduled his pre-exam conference for 1 p.m. Feb. 16.

According to Wilson, while Ferndale police were happy to get these two dangerous drivers off the road, they realize that there are still many more like them who are not behind bars.

“When people are out there endangering the lives of others like that, the reality is that they’ve probably done it many other times without getting arrested,” he said. “It makes you wonder how many other people are out there doing the same thing but just haven’t gotten caught yet. People like that seem to be motivated by alcohol and not much else.”
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jeremy Selweski at jSelweski@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5004.