IDAHO SPRINGS MAN WINS $18.5 MILLION IN DUI CASE

An Idaho Springs man was awarded $18.5 million today for catastrophic
injuries he suffered when a driver drunk on alcohol and high on
marijuana left a mountain road and slammed into him as he was changing
the oil on his wife's car in their driveway.

Clear Creek District Court Judge Russell Granger assessed the award
against the driver, Kevin Ruszkowski, 24; the owner of the Jeep,
Randall Guy; and Guy's son, Justin Guy, 20, who had allowed Ruszkowski
to drive the vehicle.

Paul Savage, 46, who was injured, was head waiter at the Alpenglow
Stube at Keystone at the time.

Ruszkowski had no license because his driving privileges had either
been suspended or revoked for prior driving misconduct.

Granger said he was assessing Ruszkowski $1 million in punitive
damages both for "driving the Jeep while drinking and smoking
marijuana and for fleeing the scene of a collision amid the screams of
his victims."

In fining Justin Guy, who was a passenger in the Jeep, another $1
million, Granger said he permitted Ruszkowski to drive his Jeep
despite knowing that Ruszkowski had been drinking and smoking
marijuana all day.

The judge noted that Savage is now in a wheelchair and will never walk
again except "more than a few heavily assisted steps at a time" and is
a "functional paraplegic."

Jim Chalat, lawyer for Paul Savage and his wife, Pam, said Savage has
had more than $4.3 million in medical bills and is expected to have
another $4.9 million the rest of his life, said Chalat.

On the day of the accident, the judge said Ruszkowski and Justin Guy,
both Denver residents, had decided to take Guy's Jeep to the mountains
and were driving on Virginia Canyon Road near Idaho Springs.

Ruszkowski was so drunk and high on marijuana that he ran off the road
once and was warned by a passerby that they shouldn't be on the road
driving drunk. After pulling out of the ditch, said the judge,
Ruszkowski, sped down Virginia Canyon Road, lost control of the
vehicle and slammed into Paul Savage who was in the driveway of his
home in the 400 block of Virginia Canyon Road.

The impact of the crash crushed Paul Savage. The Jeep, which became
airborne, smashed into the Savage's house.

Both Ruszkowski and Guy fled the scene but were apprehended a short
time later.

Ruszkowski pleaded guilty to vehicular assault/DUI and leaving the
scene of an accident. He was sentenced to six years on vehicular
assault/DUI and four years on leaving the scene. The sentence was
later reduced to four years of intense supervised probation after he
successfully completed boot camp.

Justin Guy was convicted of obstructing government operations and
sentenced to 40 hours of useful public service and 12 months of
unsupervised probation.