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Sunday, May 5, 2002
Tony Miers, 38, Former Drunken Driver
By Leslie Linthicum
Journal Staff Writer
Tony Miers doesn't know how many times he was stopped by police for drunken driving. He thinks it was more than 20.
He certainly couldn't calculate the number of times he drove drunk and didn't get caught.
"It's uncountable," says Miers. "I drank and drank."
He started drinking at age 13 (unless you count the day when he was 3 and someone gave him a couple of cans of Coors) and was drinking regularly by the time he was 16 and had dropped out of Rio Grande High School.
Miers had DWI charges dropped for a variety of reasons over the years: The police officer didn't show up, the Breathalyzer had not been calibrated recently, the arresting officer had not filled out his paperwork properly.
He also used a common ploy to avoid serious jail time: He pleaded guilty to DWI as a first offense several times and was sentenced to alcohol treatment programs or counseling.
Miers gave little thought to driving with a 12-pack of Budweiser or bottle of Black Velvet on the floorboard between his feet, or to getting caught.
"I figured that was just part of growing up," Miers says. "This is just the way life goes. Even if I got caught, what's going to happen? I'm going to have to go to an AA meeting?"
It took a domestic violence charge four years ago to get Miers' attention. He sobered up, accepted Jesus Christ into his life and opened his own small business, an automotive paint and body shop in the North Valley.
Miers has had three run-ins with drunken driving and the law in the past year, but these are much different from his past experiences. Each time he has seen a driver drinking, he has called 911 on his cell phone and kept track of the driver until police arrived.
"I figured if I didn't drink and drive, I would be safe. I could get out of the way."
"I said, 'God, I want something out of life and this isn't it.' ''