Bartley Gorman- Florida- 2011 (CAPTURED!)

Thoughts? Those of us regular posters here know one of the types of crimes where I get on my soapbox is drunk driving cases, as perhaps one of the two types of crimes, besides parental abductions, that I don't think are taken seriously enough. I read on the Find Chris Ponce website that Chris's mother said something about "having bigger fish to fry" even after the Angel family asked the Judge for lenience if Chris went to rehab. There was also some woman who complained Ponce "just made a mistake" and they should just be thankful William Angel is in heaven and thankfully she was shut down for her idiocy. There was also the woman I had to say "Bye, Felicia" to for complaining about another drunk driving fugitive on our site that "didn't intentionally mean to kill anybody." Why these people condone someone driving drunk and killing someone as a result is beyond me.

Gorman is yet another case where the accused is really screwing himself by going on the run. Fair or unfair, and even though Florida is stricter than other states, DUI and Vehicular homicide cases don't always carry out strict sentences if it's a first time offense, and Gorman was only 19-years old at the time. The older he gets, the longer he stays on the run, the less chance he has for leniency from a Judge if convicted not to mention the older he'll be when he gets out whether he's given leniency or not. I'm in no way condoning what he did, but at 19-years old if he simply immediately went to trial and/or entered a plea, it's possible he could have been given a sentence that allowed him to try to turn his life around afterwards, whether he deserved the chance or not. Now instead he starts out his adult life by choosing not take responsibility for his actions, like so many of these other cases we've seen over time, especially in Florida. (To be fair, not every state has a highway patrol most wanted list, so perhaps Florida just does a better job at highlighting their DUI manslaughter/homicide fugitive cases unlike other states.)

Through various investigative techniques and extensive surveillance, Bartley was finally arrested in Polk County, Florida this morning! A woman, 23-year old Catherine Gallagher was arrested for harbouring a fugitive.

Great work by investigators, although it surprises me how Bartley spent seven years on the run, not leaving the state, even though the article said he had been using fraudulent identification.

www.wfla.com/news/polk-county/fugitive-on-the-run-for-7-years-captured-in-polk-county/1239180985