Michael Gagnon Is An Asshole
January 1, 2008 by Morbid
And has earned the honor of being the first person to be featured on The Dreamin’ Demon for the year 2008. Go Michael! Good job! Schmuck.
TOLEDO — MichaelMichael reviews
has killed five members of a family in one fell swoop SundaySunday reviews night when he decided to drive drunk. He drove his F350 on the wrong side of I-280 for 4-miles before hitting a minivan with a family of eight. The crash ripped a side door off the minivan, throwing out some of the victims. Killed were Bethany Griffin, 36, Jordan Griffin, 10, Vadi Griffin, 8 weeks, Lacie Burkman, 7, and Haley Burkman, 10. All are from Parkville, Md. and were returning home from a Christmas trip. Danny Griffin Jr., 36, was listed in serious condition; Sidney Griffin, 8, was in critical condition; and Beu Burkman, 8, was in serious condition. Gagnon also was taken to a hospital, but his injuries were not as serious. His blood-alcohol level was .254 percent, more than three times the legal limit in Ohio.
Samuel Gagnon, Michael Gagnon’s brother, told The (Baltimore) Sun that he, his brother and their cousins were drinking at a hotel. Their sister was supposed to drive them home, but Gagnon said his brother took off in the truck without telling anyone. “I don’t know why he decided to leave,†Samuel Gagnon told a newspaper. “ Everyone’s in shock. We’re supposed to be celebrating the New Year, but now I got to look forward to my brother in jail the rest of his life.†Woe is you, Samuel, woe is you. Michael Gagnon stopped at a fast-food restaurant in a Toledo suburb just before the crash, said Lt. Hank Everitt of the Oregon police department. Mr. Gagnon was charged Monday with aggravated vehicular homicide.
Click to here 911 calls made from the fast food restaurant as well as other drivers calling about a truck going the wrong way.
You gotta love the crash scene photo. A mini-van with it’s side peeled back like a can of sardines. Presents and crap littering the highway. Earlier, newborns and children mangled and splayed across the road. A family of eight now at three…if they are lucky…and the drunk is barely injured. For those of you who believe in some higher power calling the shots, he sure has a strange sense of humor.
You ever go to Mydeathspace.com? It’s kinda strange clicking on the drunk driving related deaths. Not because they died because of drinking and driving, but because their pictures always show them drinking. Same with the friends of the Rodeo Bar and Grill. Oh well, good riddance…but I tell you this, if I am ever involved in a wreck where someone in my car was killed due to a DUI motherfucker, and he is not hurt…I cannot promise that I wouldn’t strip to my sexy underwear, tie my shirt around my neck like a cape, extend both arms out in front of me and make swooshing noises as I made my way over to the drunk driver and start yelling “BAM!” “ZAP!” “POW!” to coincide every time my foot connected to the back of his head while I curb stomped him to death.
1:19 am on January 1st, 2008
I read about this earlier today. I’m amazed that people drive drunk. Why not ride with his sister like he was supposed to do? Why not call a cab? I’m so terribly sad for the victims. *tears*
1:32 am on January 1st, 2008
Wow and double fucking wow. That is so damn horrible. God, anymore I hate to be on the roads because you never know when someone like this guy is going to be around. Every since I was in a bad accident years ago, I hardly drive, and I have to be medicated before I ride in a can with wheels. Damn…..he killed all those people, just because he was drinking and having a “good time”. The wreckage made me cry. My heart goes out to this family. Jesus Fucking Christ, Happy New Year.
1:48 am on January 1st, 2008
He has now been charged with five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide.
1:51 am on January 1st, 2008
Wow…in my humble opinion, I’d have to give his brother Samuel the award for best supporting asshole! His brother killed % PEOPLE and all he gives a shit about is that his brother is going to jail??!! FUCKER!!!
1:52 am on January 1st, 2008
OOPS…5 people. Too much butter shots in my eggnog I think….
And I’m smart enough to stay HOME to celebrate the new year!
1:58 am on January 1st, 2008
I read somewhere else that he was on suicide watch at St. Vincent’s hospital…he’s to be taken to jail immediately when released from the hospital. I also read where is jaw was injured. How in the fuck can you kill 5 people and end up with minimal injuries? Where is the justice in that shit? I’d almost bet this guy had prior drinking related offenses. What a fucking irresponsible jerk.
2:01 am on January 1st, 2008
In ohio convicted drunk drivers are forced to use a red and white license plate. It’s like a warning on the back of your car telling everyone…”here comes another asshole”. I think they should make them install a public PA system on their vehicles that goes off with lights, sirens, and a loud as hell announcement!
2:08 am on January 1st, 2008
Aww, poor Samuel has to live knowing that his brother will be in prison. At least his brother is still alive while a family has been devastated by losing five of their loved ones. What a douche!
3:43 am on January 1st, 2008
Here is something interesting. Different reports state that they were either drinking in a hotel room or were drinking at the Rodeo Bar and Grill. While it is quite possible that they were doing both, I am curious if the servers at the Rodeo will be asked any questions, especially if they continued to serve him.
A memorial fund has been set up for Jordan Griffin to help pay funeral expenses. Contributions can be made at any TCF Bank to the Jordan Griffin Memorial Fund. Grandview Elementary, Jordan’s and Sydney’s school, will hold a spaghetti dinner Jan. 18 to raise money for the family, and a fund has been established at Community Choice Credit Union in Livonia.
4:22 am on January 1st, 2008
the poor mom’s myspace
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=46781953
there are beautiful pics of her family and the brand new baby.
4:36 am on January 1st, 2008
that poor family. from reading the comments and such the mom and dad had been married for just over a year. of the children that are in the hospital one belongs to the father from his first marriage and the other from the mother from her first marriage. This is so tragic and sad. that poor, poor, family. i am praying that dad and kids come through this.
I dont understand driving drunk, why couldnt he just pass out at the hotel, was it really necessary to go for some post drinking fast food?
i hope that this drunk b^stard goes to jail for the rest of his life. that is possible, right?
10:40 am on January 1st, 2008
A fuckin’ F350 vs a Mini-Van…they didn’t stand a chance.
Asshole doesn’t even come close…..
12:25 pm on January 1st, 2008
Oh, and kudos to the Taco Bell employees who tried to keep the guy at their restaurant.
12:30 pm on January 1st, 2008
Drunk drivers are NEVER hurt. They always survive will little or no injuries. I have more stories than I care to even think about with drunk drivers. Something about the alcohol that makes their bones turn to rubber or something.
This man’s jailtime will never pay for the potential that he destroyed when he killed those babies and took away a wife and a mother.
I checked out his MySpace page. This ass will NEVER make it in prison. He looks like he is used to a completely different kind of life. If he doesn’t off himself first, he will be writing home every day asking for lube.
1:02 pm on January 1st, 2008
I’ll probably be banned from myspace forever, but I couldn’t help sending a message to the Rodeo Bar and Grill telling them that if they were the ones who served and served and served this fucker I hoped they were charged as well. If not, well then, sorry, Happy New Year. I know, I know, myspace will prob delete MY page for it. I just couldn’t help myself. I was up until 4:00 a.m. thinking about and grieving for the victims families. I just couldn’t sleep and kept thinking about my lil’ ones.
1:17 pm on January 1st, 2008
Kathy….you’ve brought up some good points. The alcohol causes the body to be more “loose”, more flexible….it is just a goddamn shame, he hardly suffers and 5 die.
I just watched a news video at Yahoo, regarding the accident. Motherfucker that was killer, they show several different pictures of the van (or I should say, what was once a van). We used to own one of those Dodge vans (I called it a sewing machine on wheels) it ran like a piece of shit and we ended up blowing the motor in the damn thing going up a mountain in Pennsylvania.
Colomom mentioned they never had a chance against that truck…so true.
This story has made me cry, I mean I’ve been a blithering idiot. Thinking how many times we have traveled the roads and well, my babies….I just cannot imagine losing so much….that poor, poor man who has been left with the knowledge that 5 people in his family are all gone.
I read over “GAGnon’s” (yes, emphasis placed on the gag part) myspace page, and yep, it looks to me like he lived a partying lifestyle, or at least that’s what he wanted portrayed. I’m with Kathy, this guy is going to check him self out if he can…there is no way he’ll make it through the prison system, it will eat him up alive. Drunken pussy.
Nowadays it is so easy to prevent this shit. Call a fucking cab, hop the damn bus. Stay where you are and don’t fucking drive….that one is as simple as shit.
I have driven drunk, and I am sorry as fuck that I did it, thank god I never hurt myself or anyone else. (this was in the 80’s folks) I look back and think damn, what a dumb twenty something I was….I guess I mentioned that because I cannot help but thinking this stupid fucking kid, gets in his truck drunk, of course his intention is not..”I’m gonna go kill a family with my truck”, ya know? A stupid idiotic mistake, and so very much is lost.
1:36 pm on January 1st, 2008
There is a memorial myspace page for this poor, beautiful family.
http://profile.myspace.com/bhjlv
1:45 pm on January 1st, 2008
according to the 911 tapes he got on 280 on navarre. according to the Rodeo Bar and Grill’s page they are located on Navarre. so unless the hotel is also located on Navarre, he left the club got some post drunk “fourthmeal” and headed up the wrong way on 280. According to the 911 tapes the crash occurred on 280 and manhattan. 280 begins there going south from I-75 which means that family had just got onto 280 when the F-350 smashed into them. He got pretty far going the wrong way.
everyone who saw him driving drunk did the right thing and called 911, the taco bell employees tried to keep him there. it is just so sad, that family really didnt have a chance.
1:51 pm on January 1st, 2008
Motherfucker cocksucker piece of shit.
For all you idiots that justify alcohol, and can’t wait for the legalization of heroin, fuck every one of you. Not owning up to the heinous bullshit that drinking leads to puts you up there with the Germans that turned a blind eye while Jews were going missing.
Fuck every one of you immature morons. Most RAPES occur with alcohol involved (and most probably aren’t even reported). A disproportionate number of highway fatalities occur with drinking involved. Spousal battery almost always coincides with drinking problems. Parents gamble away their savings while drunk, etc…
Should drinking be legal? Sure, you can’t stop all you fucking assholes from being irresponsible. It is the only thing you are consistent with. Should we have businesses where you go and drive somewhere to get in a condition that prevents you from leaving safely (safe for others, of course, you fuck-wads are always unscathed)? Of course not. It is barbaric. Something the future will FUCKING MOCK US FOR.
Do your part. Start drinking at home where it is CHEAPER, SAFER, and responsible. Does this lessen your chances of fucking a passed-out stranger and contracting a new STD? Yes, and that is the sacrafice you need to start making. Once you grow up, spread the knowledge by poking fun at the idiots who are just like you once were.
-swivel
1:55 pm on January 1st, 2008
Srry the rodeo was having their New Year’s Eve bash on the 30th of December. Which was the night the crash happened, right?? Anyway according to the flyer they had discounts for Holiday Inn Express which was “30 feet from the bar” so the hotel room the sister ordered probably was right there. If he was toasted and the bar employees knew he had a room, are they legally required to stop him from leaving? would they have assumed that he was going to his room? Who would be legally responsible, the bar or the waitress/waiter serving him?
This jerk had enough money to drink his @ss drunk but not enough for food at the bar or a cab to take him to Taco Bell. I bet his intention was to go back to the bar, but the f^cker was too drunk to realize he had taken a wrong turn.
2:06 pm on January 1st, 2008
“Officers later found out Gagnon had been drinking at the Rodeo Bar and Grill on Navarre Ave. When he left there, he stopped at the aforementioned Taco Bell, which prompted people to call the Oregon police. By the time the police arrived — just 2 minutes and 12 seconds later –Gagnon was gone.”
from the memorial page, the more i read the more frustrated and sad i become.
2:10 pm on January 1st, 2008
To put things into perspective, here is a quick Google Map of the location of the Rodeo (A) the location of the closest Taco Bell (B) and the 280 exit (C)
2:13 pm on January 1st, 2008
And here is the approx 4 miles he drove on the wrong side of the road.
2:21 pm on January 1st, 2008
Here is a link to a much better map and locations, including the locations of drivers who called 911.
http://toledoblade.com/assets/pdf/TO3574611.PDF
2:22 pm on January 1st, 2008
well, he wasnt going back to the bar.
2:28 pm on January 1st, 2008
great link, morbid. they were barely on 280 when that jerk took away the rest of their lives.
2:39 pm on January 1st, 2008
Exactly….fuck that is horrible shit.
3:09 pm on January 1st, 2008
tray-bay-bay, thanks for the link for donations. if anyone can afford donating 5 or 10 dollars, i am sure the family will need it for burial expenses. the memorial website is heartbreaking. i am going to be more vigilant about my friends NOT driving after drinking at parties, bars or clubs.
3:16 pm on January 1st, 2008
see, y’all, this is why i only drink at home or someplace i am not leaving for the night. Mind-altering substances of any sort have no business being consumed where people can get hurt. I don’t trust my judgement after only a couple of drinks – i sure as hell am not going to put the safety of other people in my hands if i’ve downed a few. (Okay, that and the fact that i tend to take off my shirt after the third drink, but that’s another thing.) Tragedies like this make me realize that it’s not just the insane markup on bar booze that makes drinking at home (or not drinking at all) a good idea.
Those poor babies – that poor husband and father. His poor ex-wife who lost a child and nearly lost another. Bethany’s ex, who lost his kids. Their older brother, who could have been with them. Good God, the number of people hurt by this one asshat’s idea of a good time, and all his brother can whine about is jail time? Sweet Jesus on a popsicle stick, that is sad.
4:02 pm on January 1st, 2008
Whoa, the Taco Bell people actually did trap him in the parking lot or something??? And he still kept driving??? The Taco Bell employee called the police, and they still had him there. After that, somehow the asshole left? What happened?
4:02 pm on January 1st, 2008
Thank You, Morbid. Obviously, if the time between the 911 call and the arrival of the police at Taco Bell was less than 3 damn minutes, then the employees gave less than full effort to stalling the asshole in their drive thru. I mentioned this to my DH, who is an operator for another fast food chain and he ripped me a new one about it being ‘against policy’ to try to detain a piss drunk customer. I’m sorry, but they could have blown a good 5 minutes stalling him at the window. They could have asked him to pull to the window to order, asked him to repeat it, repeat it back and ask if it was right after they screwed it updeliberately, made the food EXTREMELY SLOWLY, dropped it on the ground on purpose …all sorts of things they COULD have done to buy time which they obviously did not. Personally, I would have yanked his head through the drive up window and shut him in it.
4:07 pm on January 1st, 2008
No way would I place one single once of blame on the Taco Bell guys. They did exactly what they should have done and that was to call 911. To do anything else would have been to place themselves in danger and possibly become another victim. They have no idea if this guy has a gun, is going to just park his truck…nothing. They did the only thing they could have done and call 911 and give them all the info they had.
4:09 pm on January 1st, 2008
I think blaming the minimum-wage dude at Taco Bell is crazy. Blame our college atmosphere where getting drunk is something to be proud of, while smoking a cigarette gets you shunned from society. Blame the bar that cashes in on weakness and contributes to this mess. Blame the peers that, in their rush to not be the most disgraceful human in the immediate environs, urges their friends to drink as much as possible. Blame this asshole, who probably drives under the influence twice a week, and just HAD to have the largest truck possible to make up for his 2-inch cock.
The Taco guys had the right idea, and took SOME action. Who else in this story can we say that about? We blame the people that didn’t try “hard enough” and forgive the cocksuckers that PROMOTE this behavior daily?
Get your head straight. Sober the fuck up, America.
4:11 pm on January 1st, 2008
Oh, and in case it has not been posted yet, here is the Paypal account for donations as well:
bethanyandtheangels@gmail.com
4:13 pm on January 1st, 2008
Amen and pass the fuckin’ biscuits.
4:14 pm on January 1st, 2008
My guess is the cocksucker motherfucker was planning on taking a right on Wheeling St to wheel back around the block to the hotel (after stopping at the bar for a few more shots, and grabbing some Taco Bell (the official snack of drunks, potheads, and general losers everywhere). Since he was drunk, and digging in his bag to make sure they gave him Mild, instead of Medium, like last time, he missed his turn and took a right onto an exit ramp which dumps down onto his road, rather than leading up to the Interstate in the correct direction.
I would also guess that he KNEW he was driving the wrong way on the Interstate, and that is why he was taking the first exit he came to, he was still trying to circle back to the hotel.
The fact that he did stop and turn around was probably a typical drunk/jock decision of feeling like, “I can make this”.
4:16 pm on January 1st, 2008
Oh no no, Morbid is absolutely right. The taco bell employee did all he could. He probably went above and beyond what many would have done.
4:16 pm on January 1st, 2008
I’m not blaming the taco bell people. I’m saying they COULD have bought more time by BEING SLOW. If you REALLY want me to blame someone…then chew on this shit…
Earlier yesterday Samuel Gagnon told the Baltimore Sun that his brother, wasn’t supposed to be driving, but left the Oregon bar they were partying at without warning. He was driving Samuel Gagnon’s truck.
I’d like to know how hw got his brother’s keys.
So sorry I pissed you off!!
4:18 pm on January 1st, 2008
lol, you didn’t. Your comment just brought up a great angle in regards to responsibility and such.
4:19 pm on January 1st, 2008
I second that, Swivel.
4:20 pm on January 1st, 2008
Ashadavus, I used to bartend. Unless you are planning on physically restraining some drunk bastard it is not that easy to keep them from leaving. I have been in the position on more than one occasion where I had to cut some drunk off. Some (very few) are cool with it, but most become belligerent and get physical. It is scary as shit and I consider myself someone who can take care of myself if I ever get into a physical altercation. Expecting some poor sap working for minimum wage to go out to someone in a vehicle and physically restrain him is asking too much I think. It sounds like they did what they could. He probably realized what was happening and took off.
Now, the BARTENDER and BAR that continued to serve him and allowed him to walk out and get in his vehicle should be held responsible. I had to be certified by the ABC (in Texas) to serve alcohol and it was made very clear to me that they would THROW MY ASS IN JAIL if I served a minor and me and my employer would be held responsible if I continued to serve a drunk person and someone got hurt.
Also, every single bar I have ever been to has someone outside, usually security – even police officers – watching the parking lot. You can’t tell me that these people didn’t see this man getting in his truck.
Overall the real responsibility lies with this son of a bitch that decided to drink and drive, but what pisses me off even more is that the only people that tried to stop him AND the people that died were complete and total strangers. Where was the bar, where were the people he was partying with? Where was his POS brother that is so sad about him serving prison time?
Don’t be surprised if the Rodeo Bar and Grill shuts down soon.
4:20 pm on January 1st, 2008
I’m confused, I keep seeing different articles that say either Oregon or Ohio? Where did this happen?
4:23 pm on January 1st, 2008
Oregon is a suburb of toledo, Ohio on the Michigan border.
4:24 pm on January 1st, 2008
Ohhhhh, Oregon, Ohio is a city. Got it, thanks Ash!
4:24 pm on January 1st, 2008
I’d be interested in knowing why there wasn’t a sobriety checkpoint right there by the bar and hotel since this seemed to be a well advertised event.
4:26 pm on January 1st, 2008
Sounds like he was really sympathetic and regretful.
4:27 pm on January 1st, 2008
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080101/NEWS03/679529958
This article states that he was uncooperative and belligerent with police after his arrest knowing FULL WELL that he killed 5 people.
4:27 pm on January 1st, 2008
4:29 pm on January 1st, 2008
Being a selfish, drunk driving asshole…he was probably pissed that his brother’s truck was just totaled by a minivan, that his jaw hurt and he got the blood of an infant he just killed on his new boots.
4:31 pm on January 1st, 2008
UGGGHH!! i cannot believe the nerve of this guy, he should have been sobbing (i still dont think anyone would have forgiven him if he had) I also read that when his brother called him to find out where he was (after he had already killed the family) he answered his phone, said “Sorry, Bro” and hung up. what a d!ck!
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