ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Armless man gets 5 years for driving
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A man with no arms and one leg who wouldn't stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on felony driving and drug charges.
Michael Francis Wiley, 40, also was sentenced to 15 years of drug offender probation. He pleaded no contest in June to the charges.
"I'd just like to say I know what I did was wrong," Wiley said in court Friday. "I am truly sorry your honor. I am."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
He once had a valid license, but it has been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.
In his most recent brush with the law last May, Wiley sped off in a Ford Explorer when police approached him at a convenience store, officials said. Officers pursued, but called off the chase after eight minutes because they did not want to put others in danger, police said.
Entire article: Armless man gets 5 years for driving - Yahoo! News
Earlier article (Published May 9, 2007):
Armless driver eludes police chase
[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]
Michael Wiley demonstrates how he drives in the driveway of his Port Richey home. Wiley lost both arms and part of a leg in an accident when he was 13, in 1980, and has since then racked up one of the worst driving histories in the history of Pasco County. He was in another short police chase Tuesday but got away.
NEW PORT RICHEY - For about eight minutes on Tuesday, through the streets near downtown, police chased a driver who had no arms and one good leg.
He got away.
He is used to this sort of thing.
Authorities say the driver was Michael Francis Wiley, 40, who overcame three amputations, taught himself to drive with stumps and proceeded to become one of Pasco County's most accomplished traffic violators.
His license has been suspended so many times that driving itself has become a felony.
Which brings us to Tuesday, about 12:50 p.m., when a New Port Richey Police officer spotted Wiley in a suspicious vehicle - a blue Ford Explorer - at a convenience store off U.S. 19, according to Capt. Darryl Garman. When the officer went to investigate, the Explorer took off.
The chase, eventually joined by a second officer, led down the highway to Sunset Road and Veterans Drive, back to 19, back to Sunset, and finally over the bridge into Port Richey.
Police will seek an arrest warrant for Wiley today; charges could include fleeing to elude and habitually driving with a revoked license.
If it really was Wiley behind the wheel Tuesday - and it is hard to imagine him being confused with another driver - this was not his most spectacular car chase. In 1998, while driving a green Corvette, he led deputies down Interstate 75 at nearly 120 mph.
According to court records, Wiley has stolen a car, kicked a state trooper and attacked his wife headfirst. He is awaiting trial on separate drug and illegal-driving charges. He faces up to five years in prison.
Most Ford Explorers have automatic transmissions, though several people say Wiley is perfectly competent with a stick shift.
"He is one of the best drivers I've ever seen in my life, " said Lee Michie, a longtime acquaintance. "But he's the worst person I've ever met."
Entire article: Pasco: Armless driver eludes police chase
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - A man with no arms and one leg who wouldn't stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison Friday on felony driving and drug charges.
Michael Francis Wiley, 40, also was sentenced to 15 years of drug offender probation. He pleaded no contest in June to the charges.
"I'd just like to say I know what I did was wrong," Wiley said in court Friday. "I am truly sorry your honor. I am."
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a license, kicking a state trooper and other charges.
He once had a valid license, but it has been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.
In his most recent brush with the law last May, Wiley sped off in a Ford Explorer when police approached him at a convenience store, officials said. Officers pursued, but called off the chase after eight minutes because they did not want to put others in danger, police said.
Entire article: Armless man gets 5 years for driving - Yahoo! News
Earlier article (Published May 9, 2007):
Armless driver eludes police chase
[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]
Michael Wiley demonstrates how he drives in the driveway of his Port Richey home. Wiley lost both arms and part of a leg in an accident when he was 13, in 1980, and has since then racked up one of the worst driving histories in the history of Pasco County. He was in another short police chase Tuesday but got away.
NEW PORT RICHEY - For about eight minutes on Tuesday, through the streets near downtown, police chased a driver who had no arms and one good leg.
He got away.
He is used to this sort of thing.
Authorities say the driver was Michael Francis Wiley, 40, who overcame three amputations, taught himself to drive with stumps and proceeded to become one of Pasco County's most accomplished traffic violators.
His license has been suspended so many times that driving itself has become a felony.
Which brings us to Tuesday, about 12:50 p.m., when a New Port Richey Police officer spotted Wiley in a suspicious vehicle - a blue Ford Explorer - at a convenience store off U.S. 19, according to Capt. Darryl Garman. When the officer went to investigate, the Explorer took off.
The chase, eventually joined by a second officer, led down the highway to Sunset Road and Veterans Drive, back to 19, back to Sunset, and finally over the bridge into Port Richey.
Police will seek an arrest warrant for Wiley today; charges could include fleeing to elude and habitually driving with a revoked license.
If it really was Wiley behind the wheel Tuesday - and it is hard to imagine him being confused with another driver - this was not his most spectacular car chase. In 1998, while driving a green Corvette, he led deputies down Interstate 75 at nearly 120 mph.
According to court records, Wiley has stolen a car, kicked a state trooper and attacked his wife headfirst. He is awaiting trial on separate drug and illegal-driving charges. He faces up to five years in prison.
Most Ford Explorers have automatic transmissions, though several people say Wiley is perfectly competent with a stick shift.
"He is one of the best drivers I've ever seen in my life, " said Lee Michie, a longtime acquaintance. "But he's the worst person I've ever met."
Entire article: Pasco: Armless driver eludes police chase
