He had the clout to fight it all the whole way and an attorney egging him on, but yesterday Pete Coors stood before a judge and did the right thing:
He changed his plea on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and admitted his guilt.
The beer magnate’s plea in Jefferson County court was counter to the advice he was getting from attorney Stephen Higgins, who was prepared to pick apart the Golden traffic stop that led to Coors’ arrest.
Instead, Coors did something refreshing – and, sadly enough these days, unusual – in admitting his guilt. He said the incident “has been very embarrassing to me and to my family, and to my company.”
Charles Hurley, chief executive officer of the national chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, applauded Coors’ move. “I think he is to be commended for not trying the legal games of getting off,” Hurley said.
Coors, however, didn’t leave the courtroom without taking a swipe at the Colorado State Patrol officers who arrested him, saying they “could have been looking for somebody who was a little bit more of a danger to the community, but they found me.”
Hurley was in Denver Friday to promote MADD’s support for police drunk driving checkpoints, and he saw it very differently. “He’s a lucky man,” Hurley said of Coors. “He could have killed someone.”
The incident took place on a Sunday night in May when Coors and his wife were driving home from a wedding reception in Denver. He said he had consumed three or four drinks over several hours.
A state trooper said Coors’ 2004 green Jaguar rolled through a stop sign, and the officer pulled over Coors, who was nearly home.
When asked to take a Breathalyzer test, Coors registered a 0.088, slightly above the 0.08 blood-alcohol limit in Colorado.
“I should have planned ahead for a ride,” Coors said in a written statement after the incident. “For years, I’ve advocated the responsible use of our company’s products. That’s still my message, and our company’s message. I am sorry that I didn’t follow it myself.”
Friday he was sentenced to 24 hours of community service and will participate in a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel. His license was suspended in July for three months. The millionaire executive has, in recent months, been seen pedaling his bicycle around Golden.
The incident has put a dent in Coors’ reputation, but his willingness to take responsibility for his actions are a fitting end to a humbling situation.
