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Witness: Richardson And Party Left Scene Of Boat Accident Within Minutes
Zachary Roth | September 10, 2009, 11:18AM
Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM)
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Hmmmm.....
The New Mexico Independent reports:
Gov. Bill Richardson, his chief of staff Brian Condit, budget secretary Katherine Miller and security officers were gone within minutes from the scene of an accident Saturday in which a houseboat was sideswiped and another was smashed into at Elephant Butte State Park, according to an eyewitness.
Here's what seems to have happened:
The group was on a a houseboat called the Bloody Mary, owned by Leon "Skip" Fay of Rio Rancho, who was also on board. Condit was steering the boat into the marina, but he came too close to the dock, sideswiping another houseboat owned by a man named Carl Shaw Jr. From there, the Bloody Mary accelerated. Fay then took control, but the Bloody Mary was going too fast, and smashed into a second houseboat, the Floating Irish, causing $10,000 worth of damage, according to the incident report.
Then, according to Shaw, who saw the whole thing unfold from his boat, almost as soon as the Bloody Mary had docked, Richardson and his party -- except for Fay and his wife -- got into vehicles and left.
"It was like they tucked their heads and said see ya," Shaw told the Independent. "That's the question, why?"
The police report doesn't mention anything about the governor's party taking off so quickly.
Another question: why did Condit then take two days before speaking to police about the incident?
Asked by the police officer whether he had been drinking, Condit said he hadn't, according to the police report.
Richardson's office didn't respond to the Independent's request for comment.
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jet
September 10, 2009 11:36 AM
Funny... Elephant Butte State Park is just outside of Truth or Consequences NM.
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Snarky
September 10, 2009 12:26 PM
No drinking huh? If you wait two days to show your face, you'd pass a breathalyzer easily. Richardson must have been snockered too, or he would have done the right thing.
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diachronic
September 10, 2009 1:24 PM in reply to Snarky
Yes- too many Bloody Marys...
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EH
September 10, 2009 1:53 PM in reply to diachronic
To be sure, Condit kind of looks like Michael Duvall, and I don't think I have to convince you that Richardson and Chris Christie could be related.
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jeffgee
September 10, 2009 3:59 PM in reply to Snarky
NM has one of the highest drunken driving rates in the country
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johnnydoughey
September 10, 2009 1:12 PM
Not a problem.
In our new improved nation, important people have the basic right to do whatever is necessary to make sure they remain important.
They are, in my opinion, doing a fantastic job ensuring this... and with full assistance from most voters who apparently have no desire to leave any worthwhile values to their children and grandchildren...
so it goes as great nations die from within.... IMHO
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tiowally
September 10, 2009 3:29 PM in reply to johnnydoughey
Hey, it's not like anyone was shot in the face or anything.
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Leftflank
September 10, 2009 1:32 PM
Richardson is a bit scandalous, no? Is that called leaving the scene of an accident?
Hey, he was on vacation!
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Salmo
September 10, 2009 1:58 PM
Richardson was a passenger. We have no evidence that he was involved in any way, save potentially as a witness. There seems little uncertainty about the events. So, he has no duty to stay after the accident at all. Leaving may generate gossip, but little else.
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_agave_
September 10, 2009 2:05 PM in reply to Salmo
I agree.
Also glad to hear there's enough aqua left in that lake for a bunch of house boats. :)
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lousgirl84
September 10, 2009 3:15 PM in reply to Salmo
That's what I'm thinking. As a passenger, he has no obligation to stay.
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bluestatedon
September 10, 2009 2:11 PM
"he has no duty to stay after the accident at all."
Are you freaking kidding me? If Richardson's behavior was exhibited by a Republican, we'd be all over his ass, and rightfully so. I'd expect this kind of excuse-making from a Republican. It is reasonable to expect more than lowest-common-denominator behavior from our high elected officials, and Democrats aren't exempt from that any more than Republicans are.
And what would you advise your own son or daughter to do in a situation where damage to private property is done by a vehicle they're in? Just skedaddle?
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Austin Democrat
September 10, 2009 2:38 PM in reply to bluestatedon
"And what would you advise..." If I was driving a vehicle with 4 people in it, I would probably let my passengers go and I'd stay, like the boat driver did. No reason to inconvenience everyone for my mistake. But if I were a famous passenger, I'd probably stay, because otherwise this could happen.
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EH
September 10, 2009 2:52 PM in reply to Austin Democrat
I consider it a civic responsibility for a witness to make themselves available while their memory is as fresh as possible.
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rb6
September 10, 2009 2:56 PM in reply to bluestatedon
I can answer this. When my babysitter was involved in an accident using my car, once I arrived, the police sent her home and elected to deal with me. Once it's clear everyone is okay, and there is only property damage, all you need is a list of witnesses. You don't need all of them to stand around arguing about what happened. Seriously, police hate that.
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matyra
September 10, 2009 3:02 PM in reply to rb6
True. If there'd been a death or injury, then it would have been scandalous.
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eric the red
September 10, 2009 3:27 PM in reply to matyra
Indeed. This is no big deal.
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EH
September 10, 2009 3:50 PM in reply to eric the red
Condit piloted the first collision.
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trblmkr
September 10, 2009 5:08 PM in reply to bluestatedon
Cheney waited until the next day to make a statement to cops in TX after he shot somebody in the face then claimed he ahd had 'one beer'. Nobody ever got "all over his ass."
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JohnW1141
September 10, 2009 2:25 PM
He should have waited for the cops to show up.
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rb6
September 10, 2009 2:57 PM in reply to JohnW1141
Right, and then if the cops showed undue deference to the governor that would be favoritism. I would probably have stuck around, but I would have sat in my car to wait. I would not have stood around with the other parties.
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eric the red
September 10, 2009 3:32 PM in reply to JohnW1141
Why? Why did the cops even NEED to show up? It is a property damage incident. Trade insurance information and that's it. Where I live, if you have a car accident and nobody is hurt, it is likely that the police will tell you to deal with it yourself.
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An Outhouse
September 10, 2009 3:33 PM
What adult names their boat "Bloody Mary"? Why not just call it "Mary Jane" and paint a big pot leaf on it?
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cece
September 10, 2009 4:24 PM
I'm curious as to why this story gets a front page headline on TPM ... led by Richardson's name.
Richardson does not drink...btw.
He was not steering the boat... this is implied guilt by association.
So what if he left right afterwards? Now Condit leaving... that is something different.
The headline should say "Richardson's COS....."
Come on you guys... we deserve higher journalistic standards than this.
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Icarus
September 10, 2009 5:17 PM in reply to cece
I agree that we're talking about Guilt-by-association, which is certainly common with Governor Richardson, since the self-proclaimed "paper-of-record" in New Mexico (i.e. the Albuquerque Journal) is almost universally hostile towards Democrats.
As for his departure, that's basic security and, even more relevantly, press control; the more time the governor spends at the scene, the more likely it is that someone will get a picture of him next to a damaged boat... at which point, Condit's name likely moves from the first paragraph to the fifth or sixth (most people only read the first three), and the story ceases to be below-the-fold and gets a lovely 36pt. headline.
I do feel the need to make one correction; Governor Richardson does drink. He's quite open about that. He just doesn't drink heavily.
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Sinomania
September 10, 2009 5:08 PM
Richardson hasn't had anything to say about the exoneration of Wen Ho Lee either.
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