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Thomas Robert Harter Jumps Off Bridge To Avoid DUI Test

Thomas Robert Harter

HuffPost Weird News   First Posted: 03/14/2012 1:17 pm Updated: 03/14/2012 2:26 pm

A New Orleans man went to extreme measures to avoid taking a DUI test: He jumped off a 20-foot-high bridge.

On Sunday, Thomas Robert Harter was pulled over by police and asked to take a sobriety test after another motorist reported his car swerving and speeding, according to Newser.

Although Harter got out of the car without being asked, and was waving his arms in the air, police say he was swaying smelling of alcohol and wearing a green St. Patrick's Day necklace. When the officer asked for his vehicle registration, Harter got back into his car and exited again, holding a pile of paper scraps and a stack of CDs, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, still swaying.

At that point, the officer asked Harter to take a field sobriety test and he agreed, before suddenly "bolting" and leaping into the water 20 feet below.

One officer managed to grab him, but couldn't hold on to Harter, who was wearing jeans, boots and a camouflage T-shirt.

Harter fell into the lake and disappeared into the water, which was rough, with winds between 15 and 20 mph, and cold, about 60 degrees, according to Causeway General Manager Carlton Dufrechou.

The southbound lanes were closed for about a half hour as rescuers looked for him.

"We were concerned that the current would just take him away," Dufrechou told the Times-Picayune.

Luckily, Harter managed to grab a utility building at the base of the bridge. He was hauled out of the 60-degree water intact and arrested for what will be his eighth drunk-driving charge, according to WWL-TV.

He was also charged with resisting arrest and careless driving, and booked as a fugitive on outstanding warrants for a hit and run.

He is being held on a $15,000 bond on the alleged driving violations, according to Fox News, but Dufrechou thinks that's better than the alternative.

"He's a lot better off than being crabmeat," he told reporters.

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FOLLOW HUFFPOST WEIRD NEWS

A New Orleans man went to extreme measures to avoid taking a DUI test: He jumped off a 20-foot-high bridge. On Sunday, Thomas Robert Harter was pulled over by police and asked to take a sobriety te...
A New Orleans man went to extreme measures to avoid taking a DUI test: He jumped off a 20-foot-high bridge. On Sunday, Thomas Robert Harter was pulled over by police and asked to take a sobriety te...
 
 
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04:31 PM on 03/22/2012
THE CURRENT DUI LAWS JUST ARE NOT STRICT ENOUGH! FIRST TIME- SHAME ON THEM, SECOND TIME- SHAME ON THE SYSTEM!!! IF SOMEONE RECEIVES A SECOND DUI, THEY ABSOLUTELY NEED CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY TREATMENT/COUNSELING! AS WELL AS A LICENSE SUSPENSION, YELLOW PLATES, AND THE BLOW DEVICE INSTALLED ON THEIR VEHICLE. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! HOW MANY PEOPLE NEED TO DIE OR BECOME DISABLED TO MAKE THE LAWS STRICTER. YES, I KNOW! IT'S A MONEY MAKING GAME AS WELL. BUT SERIOUSLY!? WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT? THE MONEY TO JUDGES, ATTORNEYS, THE CITY& BMV, MADD AND ETC... OR HUMAN LIVES? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS WORLD!!!!
ewwthatsnasty
My micro-bio is as empty as your head.
07:05 PM on 03/20/2012
a night sleeping it off in the drunk tank or sleeping with the fishes? easy decision. this man wasn't going to share a toilet with another grown man.

talk about an overraction! sheesh...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
outlawjames8
07:07 AM on 03/19/2012
"wearing a green St. Patrick's Day necklace. "

That's a crucial piece of evidence.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
dbrett480
09:13 PM on 03/18/2012
He should also pay for everyone's time dealing with his stupidity.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tracee Collins
APATHY = COMPLICITY
07:15 AM on 03/18/2012
He's got a cop haircut. Is that to throw them off when he drives by, drunk...? I mean, with 7 previous convictions for drunk driving, he probably needs some kinda sleight of hand/head.
01:00 PM on 03/15/2012
stupid is as stupid does the same goes for his hair-cut.
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budanatr
US Expat in EU
01:03 AM on 03/15/2012
I would say he failed the DUI test.
12:58 AM on 03/15/2012
How was he still legally able to drive and register a vehicle with eight DUIs? Realistically, if you get more than three, you don't ever need to drive again. I had a close call once and that was good enough for me. I don't ever want to get a DUI. I'm 23 and know drunk driving is the dumbest thing anybody can do. If you want to kill yourself fine, but you don't have to take others with you.
muckatuck
yeah, well, you know, thats just like uh, your opi
03:23 AM on 03/15/2012
yet you yourself just admitted you had a 'close call.' evidently, you're 23 and don't know enough to not incriminate yourself then turn right around and condemn others for the very same thing you admitted to.
08:55 AM on 03/15/2012
A close call at 21 with no charges is a lot different than having eight previous convictions. I was prepared to go to jail, even told the cop to take me to jail.
06:08 PM on 03/20/2012
Im sure you never had a couple of glasses of wine and drove home from a restaurant.
12:43 PM on 03/15/2012
Duuuuh. Get car and drive. At that stage of suspension people like him aren't concerned with registration and insurance.
12:45 AM on 03/15/2012
If he had been a sex offender he would have had to register with police, would have been restricted to where he could work and live. And SO's almost never kill their victims. Yet drunk drivers kill thousands in this country every year. That he had not yet done so is a fluke. Why do these people continue to drive? Why do they not have to register and perhaps have special tags on their vehicles? My feeling if he had killed himself that would be one less drunk driver we would have to be worried about
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Kirk Allen
Stupid is the new Smart
01:02 AM on 03/15/2012
thank you nanny state.
muckatuck
yeah, well, you know, thats just like uh, your opi
03:25 AM on 03/15/2012
never happen.too many drunks on the hill and elsewhere.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mccord82
Liberal Alabama Democrat-yeah that's right
12:43 AM on 03/15/2012
Meanwhile, pot's still illegal.
12:59 AM on 03/15/2012
Smoking pot is so much better than drinking. Drinking tears families apart, pot brings them together.
12:50 PM on 03/15/2012
Oh God, here we go again. Hijack this thread down the yellow gold road.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mccord82
Liberal Alabama Democrat-yeah that's right
01:33 PM on 03/15/2012
My one and only 4 word comment on this tread is hijacking it? Get over yourself.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
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kcinpa
Stop the insanity: PEOPLE before corporations!!!!!
12:39 AM on 03/15/2012
Eighth drunk driving arrest??? I guess he's going to have to kill someone first before anyone gets serious about permanently apprehending this guy...
12:50 PM on 03/15/2012
You can figure that for every arrest he probably drove another 200 times while drunk
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
spkninglsh
'Poor' Fridge Owner
12:39 AM on 03/15/2012
Sounds like a sober decision to me.
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ms silver 87
Liberalism is as American as apple pie
12:31 AM on 03/15/2012
Wearing a green St Patrick's Day necklace, huh? Man...all these drunks sure are giving the Irish a bad name.
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VeryGrood
only class worse than micro-bio was molecular-bio
12:48 AM on 03/15/2012
And here I thought the Irish gave the Irish a bad name...

And before anyone gets terribly offended-

1: I'm joking.
2: I'm about 3/8ths Irish.
12:51 PM on 03/15/2012
Is that metric or SAE
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
outlawjames8
07:14 AM on 03/19/2012
How do you calculate that?
12:30 AM on 03/15/2012
A disproportionate number of people in the Mug Shot slideshow are black. I guess HuffPo is showing its true colors.
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VeryGrood
only class worse than micro-bio was molecular-bio
12:55 AM on 03/15/2012
A disproportionate number of people who are executed by the state are black (relative to the number of people eligible for the death penalty).

A disproportionate number of people who get called in for interviews (several candidate with identical resumes) have "black sounding names."

This list could go on and on and on and on....

There are plenty of "disproportional" comments to be said about minorities in our country... You republicans don't seem to do very well with facts and statistics, though.
12:53 PM on 03/15/2012
Howz this one for ya? 50% of ALL murders in this country are committed by about 12% of the population. 42% of all violent crimes in this country are committed by about 12% of the population? Is that what you were asking about?
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baby huey
Say what again I dare you
11:36 AM on 03/16/2012
The fact is white, black, yellow, red or brown, poor people commit most of the crime.
Poor people see no hope, have less education, more broken homes, fewer roll models etc etc
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
moonchild62
Solution: publicly funded elections
12:19 AM on 03/15/2012
His 8th DUI!? I'm sorry, but after the third one or so, they should've locked him up and thrown away the key. This guy's gonna kill someone. It's actually surprising he hasn't yet.