Drunk Driver Who Ran Over, Killed, then Mocked Gay Cyclist Gets 10 years

[El Pinko]

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/opinion/74912.php


Kimble: Cyclist deserved to live a full life
MARK KIMBLE
Tucson Citizen

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Arrington will give up perhaps one-seventh of her life in return for ending the life of a man whom Cruikshank called "an enormously important and unique person in this community."

That man was Paul A. L'Ecuyer. Martin Luther King Jr. Day - the day before Arrington was sentenced - had been one of the most important days of the year for L'Ecuyer. Every year on the holiday he attended memorial events and handed out copies of a pamphlet that he created and paid to have printed. The "Personal Mission Statement" that L'Ecuyer distributed included inspirational messages and a couple of blank pages where he encouraged people to "write down your dreams." He hoped everyone would have several ideas they wanted to bring to fruition during their life. L'Ecuyer had many such dreams. He lived a spartan lifestyle, riding his bicycle everywhere so he'd have more money available to help others. Just a week or so before his death, L'Ecuyer - who had only $600 to his name - spent $150 for a grocery gift card to give to a family on Thanksgiving. He rode in competitive bicycle races, including El Tour de Tucson, to raise money for charities. He took part in a Tucson-Phoenix bike ride and, when it was canceled, continued it on his own, recruiting friends to ride and solicit pledges. "He gave

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When she was sentenced Tuesday, Arrington received close to the maximum prison time permitted. Cruikshank said that was partially because of the lack of remorse she exhibited in a telephone call from jail two days after the accident. The call, as are all calls to and from inmates, was taped, and it was played in court at Arrington’s sentencing. On it, a male friend congratulated her on killing L’Ecuyer and told her she deserved “a medal and a f---ing parade because you took out a (slur for a gay person), a cyclist, a tree hugger and a Frenchman in one shot.” Arrington's response, captured on the tape, was to laugh. Cruikshank called that "breathtaking in its inhumanity." Now Arrington says she is ready to be remorseful - serving her sentence, turning her life around and working on her idea for her own anti-DUI group. Pardon me if I don't believe her.