ESPN freelancer's wild ride in A SSR pace car

ESPN freelancer's wild ride in pace car has shocking end

A freelance reporter for ESPN.com in town to cover the Indianapolis 500 faces charges of drunk driving and resisting arrest after a police chase early Tuesday--in which he was driving a bright yellow 2005 Chevy SSR pace car--ended with him being tased. Bruce Martin allegedly hit another vehicle, then refused to stop for police. Officers used a taser when he allegedly refused to get out of the car. The police report says Martin's courtesy vehicle was dragging a front tire underneath it with sparks flying and that he had a blood alcohol level of .22, nearly three times the legal limit.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune...story?coll=cs-sports-print&ctrack=1&cset=true

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500 writer arrested in hit-and-run
Police say race correspondent was drunk and had to be subdued with Taser after chase.

By Kevin O'Neal
[email protected]


A sportswriter was arrested early Tuesday after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident while driving an Indianapolis Motor Speedway courtesy vehicle, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Department.

Officers used a Taser electric device to subdue Bruce R. Martin, 46, when he resisted arrest, according to an incident report.

Martin, of Mooresville, N.C., writes for National Speed Sport News, a weekly publication. He also contributes freelance stories to the ESPN Web site. He was released on his own recognizance after an initial court appearance Tuesday. He faces formal charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level above 0.15, public intoxication and failing to stop at the scene of a traffic accident, all misdemeanors.

Martin was driving a bright yellow 2005 Chevrolet SSR pickup truck. The incident report said Martin told deputies he had been drinking in Broad Ripple but was not involved in an accident.

The accident was reported around 3 a.m. Tuesday at Westfield Boulevard and Kessler Boulevard, East Drive. The driver of a Pontiac said she was stopped at Westfield when a yellow Chevrolet pickup hit the rear of her car, then fled west on Kessler.

A few minutes later, a deputy spotted an SSR on Kessler at Michigan Road, trailing sparks from a dragging left-front tire and wheel. The deputy tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued another mile and a half, weaving across the center line, then stopping in the 3900 block of West 56th Street.

Martin failed field sobriety tests, and a breath test showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.22, above the legal limit of 0.08.

ESPN had no immediate comment on Martin's status with the company.

Ron Green, an Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesman, said the Chevrolet that was wrecked was owned by General Motors but provided as part of the track's courtesy car program.

Green said the incident would not change the status of Martin's Speedway press credential.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050518/NEWS01/505180467/1006/NEWS01
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