November 09, 2010
Protect Our Communities
KIRO-TV
The Seattle City Attorney's Office has decided not to press charges against Bill Gates Sr. after the community leader apologized for a hit-and-run collision and paid for damages.
According to documents obtained by KIRO-TV, the incident happened in August. Investigators found his Mercedes near Seattle Center, wedged against another car, with the engine running and keys in the ignition.
The 84 year-old Gates blamed his actions on a "senior moment".
Oh dear. Time to get Dad a chauffeur, perhaps?
In other hit-and-run news, the Seattle City Attorney also dropped charges against former Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis who fled the scene after hitting a scooter last May.
Is hit-and-run property damage no longer prosecuted in Seattle, or do you only get off if you're politically connected?
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at November 09, 2010
12:14 AM | Email This
1. Actually, his being away from the accident scene could have been the time that Mr Gates Sr was off doing his dunk-tank commercial. I think his 'senior moment' story is all wet. :)
Smacks of a story I heard once of John Lennon (of Beatles fame...don't know if it was true?) but he'd evidently forgotten where he's parked his Rolls'...so he just went about his activities and replaced it with a new one...when you're THAT rich, what's an automobile
2. Most interesting, to me, is why it wasn't reported earlier, why the wait until after the vote on his income tax initiative. Papers must have known about it earlier.
3. I'm 100% with poster 2.
If this was Tim Eyeman, the Governor herself would have put out a press release on the subject and every tv station in town would have carried the news in primetime.
4. I think being a liberal must entail many
"senior moments" on an hourly basis.
5. More "good government" by liberals for liberals.
Laws are for little people and not for our betters.
6. "Is hit-and-run property damage no longer prosecuted in Seattle, or do you only get off if you're politically connected?"
Well, I guess one could ask "Justice" Bobbe Bridge about that. As far as I know, she only had to undergo abuse counceling.
7. Hit-and-Run, Leaving the Scene of an Accident...that is what any of us would have faced immediately after this was reported. Why not Gates? Senior moment? Bullsheite! Throw the book at the old scofflaw.
And Stefan...love the red banners! How 'bout you leftist trolls....red inspire you?
8. The SPD withheld a FOIA request from a reporter at the Seattle Times even though it was filed well before November. He (the reporter) finally got the request fulfilled the day after the election. This tells me we have some corruption going on in the Mayors office and the top of the SPD. If you're going to cover up the smalll stuff, you'll cover up the big stuff too. Lying scumbags the lot of them...Gates Sr. is also a wretched sot to boot.
9. News withheld by government and released just after the election.
Was this trying to make the focal point of the State Income tax initiative look more honest and trustworthy than he really was. Wasn't the last few weeks of the campaign all about "trust us" the income tax will never be applied to the middle class.
Suppressing information that could derail an income tax source for government spending is something a lot of elected officials could stand behind.
Speaking of which, anyone take note of the huge increase in L&I insurance, not that the competitive private insurance option is off the table? I guess L&I couldn't release that bit of news until after the election was over for fear of letting people understand what it was all about.
Government has earned my wrath and distrust. They deserves the budget cutting blood baths that are sure to come at the federal, state, and local level. It really pains me to say that, but it is time that those who are in government understand that they have a public trust to uphold and transparency and honesty with the electorate is a critical and missing step.
10. #9 Spot on! Our Company has been fortunate (& big) enough to be 'self-insured' as regards State of Wa L&I W/Comp and Indus Ins. You would be flabbergasted at the savings we realize over the State's 'standard' rates. I feel sorry for the smaller to mid-sized companies that can't afford this option.
11. Doesn't it make you wonder why the people who got hit didn't press charges on the accident? One must assume they were over-compensated in return for silence and refusing to charge. Should the headline be, "Gates pays for silence of accident victims"
12. Different rules for different folks. That is why he is feeling guilty about taxes.
13. TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS in front of mayors office!
14. Maybe Gates Sr. supporting the state income tax could be attributed to a "Senior Moment" as well?
15. This is weird. Mozilla Firefox/Yahoo still showing the banner as black, while Internet "Exploder" shows it now as red.
16. Katomar -- your Firefox is probably caching the old style sheet. Do a page Reload and it should change to red.
17. Yeah, again a demonstration of how our media commits sins of omission. And if it had been a prominent conservative, he would have been tarred and feathered.
When voters revolt, it's because of unfairness like this that Democrats lose.
18. Thanks, Stefan, it worked and is indeed "beootiful"!
19. I hate to say it but some areas they don't even chase down a hit and run at all.
I was the victim of a hit and run a couple of years ago that did approx. $6000 damage to my car. Fortunately, there were no injuries that required hospitalization (just bruises). The Everett police were given the license plate number, description of the vehicle and the driver by several witnesses.
When I inquired about the investigation I was told that the only address on file for the registered owner of the vehicle was a private P.O box so they were at a dead end. As far as I know they didn't pursue it any further. I guess they figured the fines wouldn't cover the cost of the investigation so why bother.
20. If BG Sr had a "senior moment" driving, when is his next one? For public safety, shouldn't he be checked out and perhaps his license revoked?
How is it that it took almost three months for this information to get out?
21. Okay, News reporters, riddle me this. If Sr parked the car, how did it cause a hit and run. This isn't a manual transmission with car in neutral and parking brake malfunction. Something in the report seems fishy. Come on reporters, we expect you to report the basic facts right. Is it too much to ask simple questions?
22. You don't 'normally' park a car in the ass-end of another and leave it running, while you flee the scene, do you? :)
23. Yep, I think the most significant part of this story is the witholding of the info after the Seattle Times request until after the election. Clearly, the City and SPD aren't helping their reputations on that one. It's getting worse, isn't it?
24. There could be additional follow up reporting on this. Getting the information late doesn't diminish the story, it meely makes it a better story. Some advice to the reporter that uncovered this. How about the finding the person that was hit by Mr. Gates and interview them. Keep digging.
25. Gates family money will insure Seattle keeps a lid on all questionable details regarding this case. Only public outrage at Bill Sr's preferential treatment by SPD would change anything....and that ain't gonna happen in Gatesville.
26. You're looking at this the wrong way. The news was suppressed, sure, but had it gotten out and I-1098 failed, it's supporters would have blamed the failure to pass on a last minute smear in the media aimed at the initiative's #1 spokesman.
Instead, what we have here is a failure of the income tax initiative in this state without anything else to distract the voters. Heck, the thing failed in King County of all places!
I think this should serve as a clear message to Olympia that a state income tax is no longer an option and they need to look elsewhere to plug their budget deficit.
27. Hey How about the City not pressing charges against Tim Ceiss.. He ran the campaign No 1100
and No 1105. The City Attorney did Robo Phone
calls telling us to vote No. I got hit with 3
within 10 minutes. Did Ceiss cut a deal.
28. You know, with absentee mail-in voting in place, I'm not sure it did or would have matter(ed). I know I voted way in advance and learning of this would not have phased me in the least. :)
29. I think johnny at comment #3 and others have it exactly right. Had it been Tim Eyeman or any conservative that the left hates it would have been above the fold front page news. If it's someone on the left that might be have done something embarrassing we are lucky if we hear about it at all.
30. Was his "senior moment" the hitting of the car? Or was it the fleeing the scene?
31. This stinks. I have to wonder if the 1098 campaign knew about it, but were complicit in keeping it secret. Did they use him, knowing he is getting senile? Happy to use his name and money, not caring if they were putting him and the public at risk?
I guess money does buy you something in this town. Seems it got Gates a police department and city government.
32. Hey, give the guy a break. I think we should rename a street in Laurelhurst after the old man.
33. There are some additional details.
From TV news footage taken at the purported scene, Senior's car was left in a red curbed no-parking zone.
Maybe it's here in Seattle or maybe it's in Tacoma, but leaving one's keys in their car in their own driveway can result in a ticket.
The logic being that such behavior can encourage an otherwise good citizen to steal your car.
This became another TV news story that did its rounds during a cold snap. People were leaving their cars running in their driveways to warm them up, and then coming out of their homes a bit later to discover an empty driveway.
34. Wow!
Mabey Bill Sr. Should join Andy Griffith in the Medicare comercials and show both of the Old Fools having senior moments together.
Jimbo
35. Liberals get really hacked off when you point out that they are the loons that take away your freedoms. What kind of goofballs think it is their job to make it illegal to warm up your frost covered car in your own driveway? The same obnoxious busybodies who believe we don't have enough trees in Seattle...but I digress.