On August 31, 2008, Ocean City Police stopped a pick-up truck after it was observed
being driven erratically. The driver was identified as Joseph Scott Weker, (47) years old of Ocean City, Maryland.
During the traffic stop, OCPD Officer (PFC Patrick Flynn) observed Weker, and based
on these observations suspected Weker might be intoxicated. During the stop, Weker
refused to take any standardized field sobriety tests and became extremely
uncooperative. When Officers attempted to arrest Weker, he became combative and
resisted by refusing to exit his vehicle. Officers eventually placed Weker under arrest and placed him in an OCPD car for transport to the Public Safety Building.
After being placed in the police vehicle, Weker was able to kick the rear passenger
window of the police car which resulted in the window and door frame of the police car being damaged.
Weker was eventually transported to the Ocean City Public Safety Building, where a
breath test was administered, resulting in .19 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
Weker has been charged with:
• Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (TA 21-902a1)
• Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol per se (TA 21-902a2)
• Driving While Impaired by Alcohol (TA 21-902b1)
• Fail to Display Registration Card on Demand (TA 13-409b)
• Exceed Maximum Speed (TA 21-801.1)
• Driver Failure to Obey Designated Lane Directions (TA 21-309d)
• Malicious Destruction of Property: Greater than $500 (CR- 6-301)
• Resist Arrest (CR 9-408b)
Weker appeared before an Ocean City District Court Commissioner and was released
on his own recognizance.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
21 comments:
isn't he an instructor at Wor-Wic in the Chemical Dependency Program?
He really is an instructor at Wor-Wic Community College and has worked at local facilities as a chemical dependency counselor. Wow!! The chemical dependency treatment community and Wor-Wic must be so proud!! Way to go Weker!!
Great!!, I have a class with him this semester. Hmmmm, better get that "A"!!!
Joe is a great person and a truly effective instructor...I am a Chemical Dependency Counseling major at Wor-Wic, and have had many classes with Joe, he can really be an inspiration to young students who plan on entering this greatly under appreciated field. Everyone has their vice, and everyone makes mistakes, so let's try to go easy on him. Hell, twenty years ago it was required that you have some personal experience with drugs and alcohol to make you a credible counselor! And besides, if the states attorney can get away with it and hold his chin high, then so can Joe. He has a community who will rally around him and will not judge him, for we understand that recovery from any catastrophic life changing situation like this is a process, not an event. Look at your own skeletons...and be thankful you're a nobody in this town...you can keep them in their closet.
I can NOT believe this guy was OR'ed! He should have sat in jail for a little while. I hope he, at least, got a beat down.
Kennedy, I am somebody in this town, and I know Joe. I know quite a few addictions counselors, and I don't know where you got your information from. Having "experience" has never been an avenue to being seen as a credible counselor. Most CREDIBLE counselors do not bring their issues into group. Counseling is about the Client, not the Counselor. Counselors who bring their past into their group or individual work are still trying to work out their own issues, on company time. Maybe you should work out your own issues before attempting to become a counselor.
Hi Kennedy,
I am somebody you want to be, I have been an addictions counselor for 6 years. I think that it is nice to stand by the teacher you respect, however, he must have been your ethics teacher because some of your comments are misquided. Many addictions counselors are recovering addicts-recovering being the key term. It is unethical for a counselor to be actively abusing any substance, even a legal one like alcohol, and be counseling. It is also unethical for a person to be teaching counseling while he/she is abusing drugs and I am sure you learned in class alcohol is a drug. He did not go out and have a couple beers with friends on a Saturday, he was over twice the legal limit driving around, resisting arrest and damaging property tax payers paid for. I don't condone in any way how easy Ruark got off with his charges and don't think Joe Weker should get any less than what the average person would get. Nobody should go easy on him, and resisting arrest and damaging the vehicle is not a little mistake while drunk, he could have killed someone or himself. Drinking to that level and getting so out of control is not a vice, it's a problem.
I at no time said that I condoned what Joe had done. I think it is completely out of character for him to have done what he did. I was simply asking the people on here to go easy on him. Sby News likes to chew people up and spit them out as if they are a perfect person in a perfect society. "Experience" was absolutely years ago, before all of the credentialing, the ONLY thing it took to be a counselor. Thank god an education process was set into stone and counselors are truly educated on all aspects of addiction, not just the experience aspect. Furthermore, if Joe is a practicing counselor right now, I'm sure his issues are not and were not brought into any of his groups, and he will probably seek some of the same help he's been dishing out over the years. Counselors are human, and as such we make (and are allowed to make) mistakes. I'm not looking to be educated by anyone on here. I have spent my time and money in class to learn what I have, and of course, with experience, I will learn more. But my bottom line is that noone needs to kick someone while they are down. I was simply trying to open the eyes of the close minded in this town. This issue is a personal one. This isn't about a budget. It's not about repairs that need to be done on the downtown plaza. It's not about vandalism, or prostitution, or the unbelievable numbers of murders in our small city. It's a personal issue for one family and I was simply asking for people on here to be mindful of that.
Again, Kennedy, you are wrong. Years ago, before Credentialing, being in Recovery was not the only requirement to be a Counselor. You are not even in the field, and you are denigrating all the people that have been in the field for years. The overwhelming majority of Counselors that I know are not in Recovery, but do have an honest desire to help people. I began in the field way before Credentialing, and I do not have the "experience" that you seem to think is the only qualification. You DO need some education, it seems. Stick to things you know about. I do feel some empathy for Mr. Weker, right up to the point where he became violent.
"I was simply asking the people on here to go easy on him"
The above statement is really hard for me to understand. This guy resisted arrest. Meaning fought with the Officers. This is when the cops should be allowed to beat someone down and then take them to the hospital and then to jail where he would stay for a while. Just my opinion. I'm a retired officer if you can't tell. No respect these days.
Again Mr. or MRs. "Real COunselor", you are missing my point entirely. So just like the rest of the readers of this blog, you pick out one point and focus wholely on that, missing the BIGGER picture. I never once said it was the ONLY requirement to become an effective addictions counselor. I, myself, am not in recovery, so why would I ever try to make that point. Read between the lines, sir or madame, and maybe you will step off of your pedestal and see that I am not trying to battle you on your education or the credibility of the addictions field, nor am I trying to present myself as an "expert" in the field....AGAIN...I was asking people to just be mindful of the "lynching" types of comments and attitudes that are prevailant on this site. You never know when the tables may be turned.
Mr./Ms. Kennedy, if you would please look at your comment of 8:29am about seven lines down, you will see that you did in fact stated that years ago, "experience" was the only requirement to be a Counselor. I will not get down off of my pedestal, it enables me to see the big picture. Try it some time. Stop pretending that a few classes have given you so much insight, it is annoying to those of us who actually know what is really going on.
"I am a Chemical Dependency Counseling major at Wor-Wic, and have had many classes with Joe, he can really be an inspiration to young students who plan on entering this greatly under appreciated field. Everyone has their vice, and everyone makes mistakes, so let's try to go easy on him."
Kennedy: I am sure you have learned and may need to grasp a greater understanding of how we can enable people to continue destructive behaviors. Joe has been in the field for years. Joe is also an alcoholic, which he openly shares. Knows his triggers and warning signs. He made a conscious choice to drink and drive. He knew what happens when he picks up. You only can control yourself not the consequences that follow. I will meet Joe exactly where he is at (you know the class)...in a relapse that will require him to experience enough pain to make the serious changes that are necessary to save his own life. Going easy on him is one of the reasons jails are filled with repeat offenders. I am a professional in the field. I hope you do not take this enabling behavior into your future profession. Thinking the legal system should go easy on him is dangerous when you will be responsible for other people's lives. What a counselor says and does are vital in the client's direction. Ask the families who have lost loved one's by drunk drivers how they would treat this case.
Making a mistake is one thing. Driving with a .19 BAC, resisting arrest, and damaging a patrol car is entirely different. Is this someone that we really want teaching our future addictions counselors ? Or is this just another case of "Do as I say; not as I do"? The Chemical Dependence Counseling Program at WorWic Community College is going downhill fast. Maybe this will force the administration to take a hard look at the Program and its instructors.
To Miss Kennedy, if you can't take the heat, STAY OFF OF JOE'S BLOG. You said "This issue is a personal one". YOU BET YOUR SWEET A$$ IT IS !! When some idiot makes the decision to get behind the wheel with a .19 BAC endangering my life and the lives of my friends and family, it becomes very personal - TO ME. When it is a colleague in the field of addictions, it is a slap in the face - TO MYSELF AND ALL OTHER ADDICTIONS COUNSELORS.
You guys are really taking this way to far...I made my point...Those of you who get it, get it, I'm looking at it from a humanistic point of view, not an addictions point of view, and as a person who was simply trying to protect the personal integrity of someone I have respect for, just as I would any other person who had suffered such a tragedy. I am not without knowledge of addictions, and as you will agree ( I hope), will continue to learn even throughout my career. Relapse is a part of the cycle of addiction, and Mr. Weker has, unfortunately, lost his path somewhere along the way. Again, my point, let's not kick him while he's down. I thought that the people in the addictions community would be the ones to rally around Joe, to try to use this opportunity to educate the readers of this blog about the severity of this disease, and it's hold on individuals. Instead, you choose to attack a passionate student, who cannot wait to be doing what you're doing. Amazing!
"as a person who was simply trying to protect the personal integrity of someone I have respect for"
It is obvious from comments like this that you still have a lot to learn. Objectivity is necessary to be an effective counselor. You cannot allow your personal opinions to cloud your judgement as a counselor (CDC 255). No one is trying to kick Mr. Weker while he is down, however relapse is no excuse for his actions. He should not be treated any differently than anyone else. Unfortunately, his actions will probably cause him to lose any certifications that he currently holds and maybe even cost him his career as an educator.
Kennedy, I too was one of Joe's students. He is one of the professors who taught me that, as professionals in this field,we must be ABOVE REPROACH. We, as addictions counselors must hold ourselves to a higher standard than those who are not in the field. How dare Joe, or ANYONE in field be held to any other standard, let alone a lower standard as you ask.
You stated, "everyone has their vice." Do you plan on bringing that to share with your group. How dare you tell someone STRUGGLING with a disease that their issue is nothing more than a vice?
I agree with RealCounselor, I hope you take a long hard look in the mirror before attempting to counsel others. We, in this field, must be sure not to cloud our judgment with our own issues.
As for experience, I am NOT in recovery, but there is addiction running throughout my family. That in itself does not make me a good or bad counselor. It just makes me someone who has addictions in my family.
As you said, to err is human. To belive you can safely operate a vehicle with a BAC .19, be combative with a police officer, and proceed to damage a police vehicle, as well as putting countless people's lives and safety at risk to that extent is a red flag. That is more than an error in judgement, it is an extremely bad choice, and even more so when it's made by someone who teaches Chemical Dependency Counseling. Let's face it, if this were a history teacher we would not be discussing this. The fact of the matter is that Mr. Weker is NOT a history teacher. Unless he's teaching bad choices 101, he cannot garner the respect of his students this way.
Another thing we learn is "model the behavior you want to see." I don't want my clients using substances, so I don't do it. We are the model for our clients and our students and this is a BAD MODEL.
I was a student at Wor-Wic and I was proud to say that at THAT time. Since graduating, I have seen how the CDC program seems to be going downhill. I am sad to see this and I'm equally sad to see the caliber of Ms. Kennedy's statements. I know you Kennedy, and I hope that you pay closer attention in school. Learn how to treat effectively instead of showing this pattern of enabling behavior. This disease will continue to kill our community if we do not produce effective counselors.
P.S. If you have already taken ethics, you should take it again. And this time, you should listen when Marion talks. He is ONE professional (both as a professor and a counselor) who WILL teach you the difference between right and wrong in this field.
Kennedy, I think that it is admirable that you would go to such lengths to defend someone you admire. With that said, Most people would agree that taking others lives in your hands by driving drunk is indefensible. If you want to help Weker, don't worry about trying to save his reputation, he is a big boy and can work on that himself. Just keep him in your thoughts and hope that he makes positive changes in order to HELP HIMSELF. He could have killed someone, including himself. He made the wrong choice, and he will have to deal with the consequences. Don't stop being concerned about others, but please realize that what Weker needs now is people to be honest with him about his behavior, and support him in getting the help he needs.
how can joe weker expect to be treated ANY different from a gun toting drunk states attorney? really? how?
What I have to say is this: I am a recovering alcoholic. I have had more than one DUI. It took that to discover that I was powerless to alcohol once it crossed my lips in any amount. I am grateful that nobody was hurt.
I am not proud of ANY of my behavior while intoxicated. But I am glad that I realized that not drinking alcohol at all is the only way to prevent the possibility of happening again
I don't condone what "Joe" did, or any other alcoholic under the influence, including myself.
Everybody is entitled to their opinion, as misinformed and judgemental as some of them are.
However, what motivated me to write a comment is what was said by "realcounselor". How pompous to say "I am somebody you want to be" in the first place. Secondly, who the hell is he to determine whether having a couple of beers or having a thousand is his to determine whether or not it's a mistake? Abusing alcohol IS a serious problem, whether you are a construction worker, a librarian, OR a drug and alcohol counselor who relapsed.
Mr. "realcounselor", who brags that he (or she) has been a drug/alcohol counselor for 6 years should know that ANY recovering addict or alcoholic is just one drink (or drug) away from a relapse whether they have one day sober or 20 years sober. It all depends what that person is doing to maintain their spiritual condition and their sobriety. There is no immunity or "safe" checkpoint in time.
And finally, ----Mr. "realcounselor's " comment as follows: "damaging the vehicle is not a little mistake while drunk, he could have killed someone or himself. Drinking to that level and getting so out of control is not a vice" --- is a pompous arrogant and judgemental statement. Besides that, it is also an inaccurate statement.
The reality is: ---damaging the vehicle, or the possibility that Joe COULD have killed someone or himself etc ---IS a vice. It therefore it is also a problem, and an addiction, and an illness, and combination of all of the above. It's a problem that stems from the inability to control the amount of alcohol one intakes if he/she is truly an alcoholic, which he obviously is.
According to Webster a vice is a --1 a): moral depravity or corruption : wickedness b): a moral fault or failing c): a habitual and usually trivial defect or shortcoming
Mr. "realcounselor" needs to get off his high horse and walk down here with the rest of us. Where fallible humans walk the earth. Driving under the influence of ANYthing, including a housewife who took her prescription valium, is dangerous, can destroy property, injure people and even cause death. those are facts.
Resisting arrest and damaging a vehicle are things that Joe did under the influence. There are also the poor idiots who make fools of themselves at the company Christmas party and are rightfully embarrased when they show up at the next workday. the point is: Who is Mr. "realcounselor" to decide whether it's a little mistake or a big one? It's a mistake. Period.
Joe needs to get back on track. No doubt about that. There are facts surrounding each and every incident that are up to the Judge in a court of law, which is why he or she is called a Judge. They weigh all of the facts.
It's not a matter of going easy on someone or throwing the book at them. It's giving appropriate consequence to the results of the DUI incident and what actually DID happen, not what could have.
What COULD have happened and what DID happen are not one and the same.
I say "get drunk driver's off the road" for sure. Prevention education of our youth BEFORE driving, and BEFORE DUI's is one added way to begin a much needed service in our society. Keeping addiction out of the closet and having an informed society is another.
Good luck to the misguided and misinformed students of Mr. "realcounselor". I suggest you get a second, third, and multiple other opinios about addiction and how to keep it in check, and to not think counselors are some type of god who can determine things with such judgement.
I am one of his students and a CDC major. This really infuriates me.
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