Olympic Skier Bill Johnson arrested

February 15, 2005 2:15 PM

Olympic gold medal skier Bill Johnsonwas released from jail late Monday after a traffic stop resulted in charges of assaulting police officers, driving under the influence of intoxicants and resisting arrest. Johnson allegedly punched the deputy repeatedly and kicked the officer in the groin after taunting them with his gold medal from the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, where Johnson became the first U.S. skier to win the downhill.
posted by Gankmore (17 comments total)

If I recall his demeanor correctly, the only suprising thing about this story is the byline isn't 1986.
posted by Keith Talent at 2:18 PM on February 15, 2005

He still carries his gold medal around 20 years later.
posted by smackfu at 2:18 PM on February 15, 2005

Worst dwi post evarrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Gold medal as far as an Olympic medal being included in a news article.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:19 PM on February 15, 2005

I don't see the "taunting them with his gold medal" in the story you linked to. If he did, it would be kinda sad to think of somebody wearing that thing around 24/7 so you could pull it out when ever you thought you could make use of its Super Powers.
posted by spock at 2:20 PM on February 15, 2005

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
posted by pmurray63 at 2:21 PM on February 15, 2005

I don't see the "taunting them with his gold medal" in the story you linked to.

Look out here it comes; Johnson allegedly punched the deputy repeatedly and kicked the officer in the groin after taunting them with his gold medal from the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, where Johnson became the first U.S. skier to win the downhill.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:23 PM on February 15, 2005

If you think it is odd, read the last paragraph about, living with mom and head injury induced coma. Then add alcohol what would you expect. If you have a brain injury, drinking alcohol is one bad combination that is asking for trouble.
posted by thomcatspike at 2:27 PM on February 15, 2005

Defense lawyer Gerald Doblie said Johnson suffers from poor judgment and lack of impulse control as a result of a 2001 head injury he suffered during a comeback attempt

Does everyone get to use that as a defense if they do something stupid? That it's not their fault, it's the fault of the head injury?
posted by mathowie at 2:31 PM on February 15, 2005

I guess things are going downhill for Bill.
posted by AlexReynolds at 2:32 PM on February 15, 2005

If you can't taunt police officers with a Sarajevo skiing gold medal during a DWI arrest, then the terrorists will have won.
posted by felix at 2:49 PM on February 15, 2005

Does everyone get to use that as a defense if they do something stupid? That it's not their fault, it's the fault of the head injury?

Earlier Monday, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Steven Todd had ordered Johnson to remain in jail pending an evaluation for supervised release.

I would say, no in this case. As an evaluation for supervised release was ordered. How often does that occur?

Thought Bill had a previous incidents involving alcohol.
posted by thomcatspike at 3:11 PM on February 15, 2005

Maybe someone should, um, shut Bill off from the ol' booze hose. Agree?
posted by jsavimbi at 4:14 PM on February 15, 2005

Whoooa... The East German judge gives felix a 4.7 for the untimely nature of his quip.
posted by basicchannel at 4:15 PM on February 15, 2005

Basic, ouch! That's absolutely going to hurt his chances this year.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 6:01 PM on February 15, 2005

I remember when Johnson had his accident - he was still a respected skier. Of course, I live in Washington State, and am from Bozeman, so I read quite a bit about the episode. He suffered a closed head injury so severe he wasn't expected to survive. When he did, it was assumed that he would never be the same again - this has proved correct, I think. This is a sad post, but you probably weren't familiar with the facts.
posted by rotifer at 6:32 PM on February 15, 2005

And the downhiller stereotype marches onward.
posted by HTuttle at 10:45 PM on February 15, 2005

If 3 and a half years later I can't make a quip about the terrorists having won, then the Olympic Downhill Skiiers in Sarajevo will have won. The gold, no less.
posted by felix at 9:48 AM on February 16, 2005