Cops die in drunk driving
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Couple killed in motorcycle crash had high blood-alcohol levels, tests show
Austin police commander, retired detective were well past legal limit for driving, medical examiner says.
Austin Police Chief Stan Knee said Wednesday that he has not yet spoken to any of the officers present at the bar the evening Cmdr. Shauna Jacobson and retired Detective Kurt Jacobson died.
Austin police launch inquiry into motorcycle deaths
Graphic: The incident at the Cedars
APD commander, husband had passion for helping others
By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, December 16, 2004
A retired Austin police detective and his wife, a police commander, had blood-alcohol levels far above the legal limit to drive when they died in a motorcycle crash Saturday, according to toxicology results from the Travis County medical examiner's office.
Kurt Jacobson, who retired from the Austin Police Department in 2002, was driving his Harley-Davidson with a blood-alcohol level of 0.24 — three times the state limit of 0.08 — Medical Examiner Roberto Bayardo said. Cmdr. Shauna Jacobson, his passenger, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.33, more than four times the legal limit, Bayardo said.
The couple probably consumed the same amount of alcohol, but because Kurt Jacobson, at about 230 pounds, weighed about twice as much as his wife, his blood-alcohol level was lower, Bayardo said.
Though much depends on drinking history and tolerance, Bayardo said, with a 0.24 blood-alcohol level, "there is muscular incoordination, impaired balance; you are drowsy or you are dizzy. Emotionally you might feel fear, or rage or sorrow."
Shauna Jacobson, he said, "was getting close to passing out."
"She was close what to we consider a lethal level, (which is) anything above 0.35," he said, adding that she was probably staggering.
Bayardo said the tests showed no trace of drugs.
The Jacobsons had been participating in a charity ride with dozens of other officers to benefit a police victims assistance counselor who has multiple sclerosis. The last stop on the charity ride was at the Cedars Bar and Grill on Texas 71 in Spicewood.
About 5:30 p.m., Kurt Jacobson drove his motorcycle into the crowded restaurant and spun his rear wheel until it created enough smoke to clear out the restaurant, bar owner Bobby Joe Bailey said.
Shortly after 7 p.m., the couple died after their motorcycle crashed into a guardrail near Bee Creek, less than a mile east of the restaurant in western Travis County. Bailey said he was not sure when they left the bar.
A Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said earlier this week that the Jacobsons were not wearing helmets and that speed was a factor in the crash.
The bartender at the Cedars, Candi Lou Summers, 44, has been charged with being intoxicated while serving alcohol, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a maximum punishment of a year in jail.
A funeral service with full honors for Kurt and Shauna Jacobson is today.
The Austin Police Department plans to launch an administrative inquiry in the coming days to find out whether other officers witnessed the incident at the bar and if so, how they reacted.
In a news conference Wednesday, Chief Stan Knee said he has not yet spoken with any of the officers who were at the restaurant.
"Officer safety is not only officer safety on duty, but it also involves officer safety off-duty," Knee said. "So our expectation is that we'll not only be good leaders of the community, but we'll also understand that even off-duty, we have obligations.
"We have a policy that says our employees will not violate the law."
Knee also commended the officers' service.
"Tomorrow, we'll lay to rest two good individuals and two great police officers," he said.
He credited Shauna Jacobson, a commander of the Centralized Investigation Unit, which handles violent crimes, with developing the department's cold case unit, reopening a case involving men she thought had been wrongly convicted, and volunteering to strengthen the felony re-entry program.
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That place was full of cops, yet the only one they arrest is the bartender! They haven't even talked to all the other cops in the bar yet?! The man drove his bike into the bar and burned out and no one thought of arresting him?? This just pisses me off.
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