Infuriating.
LITTLETON - The families of two young men killed in a drunk driving accident want the stiffest penalty for a store clerk who prosecutors say sold alcohol to one of their sons who used a fake ID.
9news.
So, wait. A liquor Store Clerk sold someone some alcohol and now the parents of the children who were killed by their drunk driving accident want the clerk to be penalized?
Obviously there's more to the story. Let's read on, shall we?
The parents of Paul Ondrish and Brandon Nichols, who were both 20 years old, admit their sons made poor choices, but say the store clerk should have been more responsible.
So, these kids weren't technically children after all, they were 20 years old.
Alarm bells are beginning to ring.
The clerk, 25-year-old Loc Truong, pleaded guilty on Thursday to selling Ondrish the liquor on July 12, 2006.
"There were a series of mistakes made that night, but it started when the store clerk sold alcohol to a minor," said Frank Ondrish, Paul's father.
Early the next morning, Ondrish crashed, killing both him and Nichols. Neither was wearing a seatbelt.
The other three passengers, all of whom were 20 years old, were also injured.
Truong was working at Marina Pointe Liquors at Chatfield and Wadsworth in Littleton.
Ondrish bought rum from him using his brother's expired Michigan driver's license as ID, according to the DA's office.
A series of mistakes that started when the Store Clerk Sold alcohol to a minor?
Actually, no. One of the first mistakes was for a kid to use his brother's expired ID to try to buy booze.
One might argue that the parents made the first mistake somewhere along the line, but why quibble.
Let's move on.
"Stores with a liquor license have a great responsibility to follow the law," said Patti Ondrish, Paul's mother.
"People who walk into liquor stores to buy booze have a great responsibility to follow the law," said Clark, father of a daughter.
The alarm bells have become a siren.
A Liquor Store Clerk making probably $8.50 an hour does have a responsibility to follow the law, but NO MORE SO than two 20 year olds that intentionally walk into a liquor store to buy rum using fraudulent identification. Luc Truong is not the proximate cause of their accident; the proximate cause of the accident seems to be their deciding to purchase booze for their drive into the mountains, then doing it. Luc Truong was unfortunate, but not a criminal.
This man does not deserve to go to jail.
However, these parents, as much as I feel for their loss as a parent myself (and I do mean that), do deserve a lesson on the effects of cognitive dissonance.
Unless there is a significant amount more to this story than meets the eye, I would have to say that a reasonable person could not find that this 25 year old liquor store clerk deserves to lose his job, his liberty, and possibly his very future because two 20 year olds decided to defraud him and his employer and successfully buy alcohol.
Free Luc Truong.
Parents, dead children, jail, and lawsuits.
This story stains the memory of the young and dead, and once again, personal responsibility surrenders.
