A chip off the ol' block(head)

A congressman gets into an accident at 3 AM and is seen staggering away but no breathalizer test is conducted and no charges are filed. That wouldn't make you think he is getting preferential treatment would it? How about if the likely drunken congressman is the son of a senator who killed a young lady 37 years ago and then hid from authorities until his BAC was low enough to pass a test? Sounds like a case of like father - like son to me.

9 News has learned U.S. Capitol police officers are concerned about the handling of an accident involving Congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-Rhode Island) about 3 a.m. this morning.

Rep. Kennedy was reportedly behind the wheel of a green Ford Mustang when it crashed into a security barrier at 1st and "C" streets Southeast. No one was hurt, but there are reports that the car nearly struck a Capitol police cruiser and that it had been swerving, as if trying to make a U-turn. So far, Kennedy HAS NOT been charged. The congressman released a statement Thursday night saying alcohol was NOT involved.

"I was involved in a traffic accident last night at ... the U.S. Capitol. I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident and I will fully cooperate with Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake," he said.

According to Rollcall.com, Baird -- acting chairman of the Capitol Police Fraternal Order of Police –- said Kennedy’s Mustang had its lights off when it narrowly missed crashing into a police cruiser and smashed into a security barrier at 1st and C streets Southeast about 2:45 a.m.

According to sources, Kennedy told police that he was late for a Congressional vote. But the House had adjourned more than three hours earlier, sources said.

According to Roll Call, Baird wrote in his letter that the driver got out and “was observed to be staggering.” He told officers he was a congressman late for a vote. Baird wrote that patrol officers at the scene were prohibited from performing field sobriety tests. Then two sergeants arrived, conferred with a watch commander and “ordered all of the patrol division units to leave the scene … that they were taking over.”

Congressman Patrick Kennedy is Ted Kennedy's son. He is currently serving his sixth term as the Democratic Congressman from Rhode Island. He sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

We will never know just how drunk this driver was when the accident occurred. Any regular citizen without political clout would have been forced to submit to a breathalizer test immediately. The watch commander should have directed the officers at the scene to handle this as they would for any other driver. Disciplinary action should be considered on everyone involved in this miscarriage of justice.

Next time you're in an accident and the police officer asks if you've been drinking just tell him you'll issue a statement tomorrow saying no alcohol was involved. Let me know how that works out for ya.