05042016 - News Article - Union official gets another OWI break

Union official gets another OWI break
NWI Times
May 4, 2016
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/union-official-gets-another-owi-break/article_9be8e9a1-e643-59c1-8820-9a3588a8056f.html

HAMMOND — The Lake County prosecutor's office has reduced drunken driving charges against a Lake County union official for the second time in five years.

City Court records made public Wednesday indicate Randolph L. "Randy" Palmateer, 37, of Crown Point, pleaded guilty Monday in Hammond City Court to reckless driving, a class C misdemeanor.

Palmateer is business manager for the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council and serves on numerous public boards.

His plea was part of a deal in which the prosecutor dropped two counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, including one that, if convicted, could have resulted in a year imprisonment.

Palmateer agreed to undergo alcohol counseling, pay court fees and costs of $383 and submit to supervision of the court's probation department for 180 days.

The prosecutor and the judge agreed to suspend jail time and a $500 fine for Palmateer as well as send an order the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles to remove from Palmateer's permanent driving record any allegation he refused a chemical test for intoxication at his arrest last month, which could have resulted in one year suspension of his driving privileges.

In 2011, the prosecutor charged Palmateer with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and endangering a person in Crown Point, but dismissed that count after Palmateer pleaded guilty to reckless driving in that case.

Neither, Palmateer, his attorney Thomas Mullins, Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter or Special City Judge Gerald P. Kray returned calls seeking comment.

Hammond police alleged they were conducting a sobriety checkpoint as part of their St. Patrick’s Day/March Madness traffic safety blitz March 25 in the 7200 block of Kennedy Avenue when Palmateer drove up "in an unsafe manner."

Hammond Officer T. Laurinec said Palmateer failed two out of three field sobriety tests. She alleged he took a portable roadside breath test, inadmissible in court, which measured his blood alcohol content at 0.155, almost twice the legal limit of 0.08. She said he refused a second breath test at the police station.

A Times analysis of Lake County court records last year indicated the majority of operating while intoxicated cases filed in Lake County courts are reduced to reckless driving, far more than in neighboring Porter County.

Although this common practice is opposed by victims of drunken driving, the Lake County prosecutor said last year it results in convictions for serious traffic violations. He said a harder approach could swamp already overcrowded court docket, possibly leading to dismissals  of charges in too many cases.