GrovePath wrote:
I Know this was posted but...

Former figure skating star charged with DWI in Downtown Jersey City crash caught on video

Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 6:34 PM
By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal



Juha Valkama, right, performs with Jessica Hout in Ice Dancing at the World Figure Skating Championships in Dortmund, Germany, Tuesday March 23, 2004. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

Former skating champ charged with DWI in Downtown Jersey City gallery

JERSEY CITY ? The former international figure skater didn't stick the landing.

Juha S. Valkama, 32, a former Finnish ice dancing champion, was charged with driving while intoxicated around 10:10 p.m. last night after crashing his 2011 Mercedes in Downtown Jersey City, Port Authority Police spokesman Al Della Fave said today.

A Breathalyzer test revealed Valkama's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit of .08, Della Fave said.

Valkama, 32, of Second Street, was trying to make a turn on Washington Street at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his luxury car, Della Fave said.
Port Authority Police officers in a marked car saw the two-door Mercedes stopped at a light at Washington and Fourth streets and when the light turned green Valkama hit the gas hard, Della Fave said.

Officers Matthew Vogelman and Sandra Burgos followed the car as it accelerated at fast rate before attempting to make a left onto Second Street, Della Fave said. Due to its speed, the Mercedes went out of control, jumped the curb, crossed the sidewalk and slammed into a fence where it got stuck and came to a halt, Della Fave said.

Valkama was shaky on his feet when he exited the car and he refused medical attention, but while speaking to him the officers noticed his speech was slurred and his breath smelled of alcohol, Della Fave said.

The skating champion told the officers he had a few drinks and he was taken into custody and brought to the Lincoln Tunnel Command Center, where a Breathalyzer test was administered.

Valkama's car was impounded and he was picked up by a friend, Della Fave said, adding that Valkama will have to appear in Jersey City Municipal Court on the DWI charge.

Valkama was a Finnish champion in the 2001-2002 season, 2002-2003 season and 2003-2004 season. In the European Figure Skating Championships he placed 21st, 20th and 18th, in those same season. In the World Championships he placed 26th, 21st and 28th in those years. Finally, in the 2003-2004 season he also placed 7th in the Finlandia Trophy competition.

According to a profile on the business networking site LinkedIn.com, Valkama is a vice president at Goldman Sachs, which has offices in Jersey City.

fat-ass-bike wrote:
What is also a danger is that the cops in pursuit don't have their lights and sirens on until the dude crashes which indectly doesn't warn motorists at intersections or on the road of pending dangers - It highlights that police are not using them in high speed pursuits and when they hit or cause an accident they 'could' be lying about them being on - not to mention the car being chased could claim he thought he was being chased by someone other then the police.

JadedJC wrote:
Quote:

JERSEY CITY ? The former international figure skater didn't stick the landing.

More fine reporting from the JJ. First of all "stick the landing" is a term used in gymnastics, not figure skating. Also, there are no jumps in ice dancing, therefore no landings to stick. Nice try at a clever lede, but clearly the JJ doesn't bother to employ copy editors.

JERSEY CITY ? The former international figure skater didn't stick the landing.

Vigilante wrote:
Next they're gonna tell us they could play QB in the NFL.

Vigilante wrote:
Lucky for him there were no pedestrians or other drivers in harms way. Put one behind his ear. POS.

Vigilante wrote:
Quote:

coronalime wrote:
This accident helps show how bad that intersection is.

Yes, the guy was in the middle of a hot pursuit, but the road is incredibly awkward and confusing right there. I constantly see people getting confused and nearly hitting other cars or pedestrians through there.

Accident? Drunken douchery is more like it. And no, this says nothing about design but it does say something about poor judgement by this douchebag.

coronalime wrote:
This accident helps show how bad that intersection is.

Yes, the guy was in the middle of a hot pursuit, but the road is incredibly awkward and confusing right there. I constantly see people getting confused and nearly hitting other cars or pedestrians through there.

...Valkama is a vice president at Goldman Sachs, which has offices in Jersey City.

By sbirje | Posted 9 hours ago | jersey city, New Jersey

CNN PRODUCER NOTE: sbirje shot this video yesterday evening of a high-speed police chase on the streets of Newport, N.J., ending badly for the fleeing driver. He observed the driver 'speed off in one direction, do a u-turn, then come back down the street and drive into a construction site. ... I walked over to the site and saw the police questioning the guy, he was asking for a cellphone to call his wife, and he seemed sober.' - jmsaba, CNN iReport producer

Jersey City, NJ | Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:07 pm EDT:

A black Mercedes CLK swerved onto Washington Blvd. I was standing right in front of Chilli's when I saw this car do a complete 180 degree spin right in front of me. At first I thought the driver must have lost control. But then when he rashly jerked the car around to get back in the right direction, I realized something was wrong. Speeding off to the next traffic light, he made a U Turn. Expecting him to put on another foolish act, I decided to tape the act on video so that I could turn it over to the police if required. As soon as the signal turned green, he sped off but there was a police car behind him. What the driver did next was bizarre. He ran through the fence of a construction site, all the way through the site and tried to come out the other end through the fence. His car seemed to have got stuck and the air bags deployed when I walked over. The accident resulted in numerous police cars arriving at the scene soon, along with a fire brigade and an ambulance. The driver was a Caucasian male in his early thirties, formally dressed in a grey suite.