Former Anheuser Busch CEO Augustus Adolphus Busch IV has a private helicopter, and he’s not afraid to fly it. At 12:48 p.m. Monday, Augie landed his whirlybird in Swansea, Illinois. Eight hours later someone called the Swansea police to report an “intoxicated male was getting into the helicopter and attempting to fly away.” Attempting? Uh-oh . . .
Swansea police officer Cheryl Venorsky arrived as Busch was preparing to take off. She turned on her emergency lights, prompting him to shut down the helicopter.
Officer Jason Frank then arrived on scene and “observed August Adolphus Busch IV to be unable to keep a single train of thought,” Frank wrote in a sworn affidavit. “I noticed August Adolphus Busch IV appeared anxious.”
According to dailycaller.com, Augie blew 0.0 in a subsequent breathalyzer test. And then the former beer baron blew it. He told Officer Frank that he was packing a Rohrbaugh R9 9mm, for which he had a carry permit.
Officer Frank didn’t ask Mr. Busch if he had changed the recoil spring within the recommended 200-round count. He simply placed the gun in Mr. Busch’s chopper and called Swansea Police Chief Steve Johnson.
Johnson arrived on scene and the police conducted a search of Busch’s helicopter that yielded four bottles of prescription pills, two of which were anxiety medications prescribed to Busch, and the remaining two were prescribed to his wife.
At some point during the search Busch became agitated, telling officers he was having a panic attack and running sprints, saying he was trying to get oxygen to combat his panic attack.
The Daily Caller report says the Chief proceeded to pat search Mr Busch. Meanwhile, Officer Frank discovered “a pepper spray gun, a Ruger .22 revolver, a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver and a Glock .357 Magnum, all of which were loaded” inside the ‘copter.
Fake news! GLOCK doesn’t make a .357 Magnum. (They sell a handgun chambered in .357 SIG.) Which discredits all of the police officers’ testimony, obvs.
Then again, we can hardly blame the cops for missing a trick of two, what with eight dogs in the helicopter, as well.
I’m giving Mr. Busch the IGOTD gong for carrying while [presumably] drug-addled. Or undrugged; Mr. Busch’s wife Dawna (also on scene) told the cops that her husband was off of his medication due to recent fertility treatment.
And then there’s the issue of Mr. Busch’s decision to allow the cops to search his helicopter without a search warrant. Which is irresponsible for any American.
Anyway, I don’t think Mr. Busch will face criminal charges. Or if he does, he’ll get off lightly.
Just as he did in the auto accident death of Michele Frederick and the OD death of Adrienne Nicole Martin (for which he paid out $1.75m). And the time he brandished his pistol during an “altercation” with a customer at a Key West bank — yet another incident for which he wasn’t charged.