Lutai arrested for car theft

Dodhiyel said:

Thank you for a heads up on the news, Hsuhs.

I care about Andrey. I think this was a very reasonable solution to the problem from the Russian end. Any time one of their athletes gets into trouble in another country, I believe they see that as an embarrassment. This way, Andrey gets to cool off while his case is being decided in the U.S., but he is still permitted to vie for an opportunity to represent Russia on the ice in the future. That seems equitable to me.

I feel that our State Department in the U.S. did its job, and thereby prevented further harm. Well done.

I am a fan of Russian skating in particular, although I am an American. My three favorite pair couples ever are all Russian. My favorite male skater ever is Russian. My favorite dance team ever is British. My favorite female skaters ever are mostly, but not all, from the U.S. I also have favorite figure skaters from Japan, Korea, Canada, France, and other countries. This is a small world now, and I believe we must all try to be friends. My favorite saying in U.S. history is "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately".

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Very reasonable action from Russians... I don't think he has lost much by not competing this year, his position in team was challenged not just by return of Plushy and by consistent scoring of Voronov, but also by the emergence of Borodulin, tetyakov . Lutai may have well finished outside the top 5 at the russian nationals considering how badly he was skating this season.

Some news and interview with Lutay's from russian newspaper....

http://www.izvestia.ru/sport/article3135820/
26.11.2009.

To skaters Lutay given a year

... On wednesday, the Bureau of the Russian Federation of figure skating (FFKKR) issued a decision on the notorious case of Andrei Lutay's ..... The meeting was held behind the closed doors of the hall boards of the Olympic Committee of Russia ....

"To be honest, I am sincerely sorry for this guy. He is not sloven, and not a drunkard. But we are obliged to take action. Otherwise, the situation in the team can get out of control" - sighs president of FFKKR.

Lutay's himself, for the time being not visible, though, how we could find out before the meeting, the athlete had arrived in Moscow and is ready to appear before the leadership of the federation. Only five minutes before the end of the meeting, secretary leads skater into the hall. The guy has no face. "I'm ready for any verdict" - short throws it on the threshold of the correspondent of "Izvestia". And soon comes out into the corridor with large drops of sweat on his forehead. Follow the Valentin Piseev with a leaf in his hands.

"Listen to the decision. Because violation of the sport mode and ethical standards of conduct as a candidate for a Russian team Andrey Lutai, Bureau Federation of figure skating decides: Andrey Lutay will be withdraw from the candidates in a sports team of Russia in figure skating for 2009-2010, and remove from participation in international and all-Russian's competitions, conducted FFKKR until November 15, 2010" - clearly he says.

Downcast, Andrey listens to "sentence" and then quietly promises: "I will try to wash away this stain. I do not want to surrender, keep training and hope to return one year later like a winner."

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First Lutay's interview...

http://www.izvestia.ru/sport/article3135889/
27.11.2009.

Figure skater Andrei Lutay: "Cell in the prison looked like a sports hall"
....

- Izvestia: I hear you have trouble began even before the event.
- Andrei Lutai: This stems from the - error of avio carrier. By an oversight, staff my skates were in Europe. And exactly, no one can explain - in St. Petersburg or Helsinki, where I did a connection.

- I: Why is it impossible to take them on board?
- Lutai: By the new anti-terrorism rules of air travel may not be taken cutting and piercing items in the passenger compartment. So it happened that for three days I was in limbo, unable to train, and got skates only a few hours before the short program. And although the organizers allowed me to make training out the official schedule, was not enough. The result you know - the tenth place among a dozen participants.

- I: And then you decided to relieve stress on traditional Russian way?
- Lutai: Actually, I do not drink alcohol: to drink vodka is not by my rules.

- I: Why then they are found in your blood alcohol? And just 0.19 ppm, whereas under the laws of the State of New York is permissible only 0,08.
- Lutai: I can tell only what I remember. After the competition all the athletes were invited to a disco. Out of respect for the organizers, I go there, too, came and stayed for about an hour. To cool down a little bitter, I ordered in the bar cold iced tea, drank it, some sat down and listened to music, and went out into the fresh air. All which happened after - is covered with fog.

- I: That you do not want to say, that someone poured something in your drink?
- Lutai: Anything can happen. Although I did not suspect, and inclined to the other versions. Perhaps the bartender is not very well understood my bad English, and instead of ice tea, he can poured into a glass of something stronger. And I'm so nervous, drank the mixture, and did not notice the change.

- I: Where at that time was your coach Alexei Mishin?
- Lutai: Alexei Nikolayevich and I, lived in different hotels. When he left, he advised me that at a party I not long delayed.

- I: Why did not you went to the hotel by bus?
- Lutai: When I went out on the porch area, in front of the club was empty. I remember that I decided to walk. Then came some the failure of memory. Clearly explain, how I found myself in someone else's car, where I went, I not could not say in police, or in court. I do not know this, and now.

- I: To operate a car and to shift it from its place, you should at least have the keys and know how to work the pedals and shift knob.
- Lutai: (sigh) As was told me later, car owner left the keys in the ignition. He's brought his Chevrolet for the inspection in a repair shop. And I know how to drive a car, even in St. Petersburg traffic i am not bad handle.

- I: It is alleged, that in your company were two girls, and that you resisted to arrest police.
- Lutai: First I learned about it from the media. But this is just rumor. Police themselves say, that I not go far away. When the patrol caught me, I obediently stopped the car and I was taken to the police station, even without handcuffs. There my consciousness is beginning to return ...

- I: You can see coach?
- Lutai: Alexey came to the police station and asked what happened, and said a few encouraging words.

- I: In prison you are held in solitary confinement?
- Lutai: The premises was more like a sports hall, hung in the corners cameras for the detainees. Treated me politely, and fed well. But I did not want anyone, to be behind bars even for three days. Not to mention the two years, which I could get on the original charges.

- I: On the questioning is often called you?
- Lutai: I was detained on monday night (16 November). The same evening I came to talk with the vice-president of our Figure Skating Federation Sergey Kononykhin and lawyer, Brian Barrett. And on wednesday is held a hearing.

- I: When did you know that you will be allowed to fly to Russia? And why is part of the original charges in court was removed?
- Lutai: My counsel, from start was convinced, that the case will be transferred from the category of criminal, to civil. This happened, when the host of car has sent a letter to the court that he had no complaints to me, and when charged for my resisting during arrest fell off. Therefore, immediately after the trial, I was released without bail, but here's permission to travel to Russia given me only at the end of last week. The delay occurred because the prosecutor did not come to court.

- I: How you met the family in Belgorod?
- Lutai: Mother and older sister really worried. They are for many years did everything for my sporting career, and I have returned them on such way! How I could, tried to reassure them.

- I: The incident occurred shortly before the start of the Games in Vancouver. Opponents do not try to use it against the team of Russia?
- Lutai: While I realize, how much has tarnished the credibility of Russia's figure skating, I hope, that this case still remains my personal misfortune. In my opinion, in the U.S. this has not received a great response, and the major U.S. media barely noticed this...

Thanks very much for the translations!

Perhaps the bartender is not very well understood my bad English, and instead of ice tea, he can poured into a glass of something stronger.

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Maybe the bartender thought Andrei said a Long Island Iced Tea.

I thought Cosmopolitan was the national drink over there

I would not be at all surprised if he got Long Island Iced Tea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Iced_Tea

or, since he was in the Northeast, if he didn't get Twisted Tea, a hard iced tea that is a product produced by the Samuel Adams Beer Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_Tea

Long Island Iced Tea is such a strong drink, that I would suspect it's twisted tea.

Can you even get a plain iced tea at the bar in a small town in NY in the winter?

I hope the attorney has the bartender and barowner questioned on this point.

I would not be surprised at all if this is a terrible mixup

dorispulaski said:

I would not be at all surprised if he got Long Island Iced Tea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Island_Iced_Tea

or, since he was in the Northeast, if he didn't get Twisted Tea, a hard iced tea that is a product produced by the Samuel Adams Beer Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twisted_Tea

Long Island Iced Tea is such a strong drink, that I would suspect it's twisted tea.

Can you even get a plain iced tea at the bar in a small town in NY in the winter?

I hope the attorney has the bartender and barowner questioned on this point.

I would not be surprised at all if this is a terrible mixup

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I started to write a post about the American "ice tea" mixed drink but had to go out at the time so I just let it go.

I think it is a real possibilty and would explain why Andrei had a high alcohol content in his blood. Spiking a regular ice tea with a drug could make a person act irrational but it does not explain the alcohol in his blood.

If this is what happened what a shame for poor Andrei. What bad, bad luck!

Thinking of a guy not knowing much English, and asking a bartender in a disco where the music was probably loud for an "ice tea" could explain such an unfortunate mishap. I agree, most discos would not be serving a regular iced tea in November, not in a mountain resort with colder weather.

I feel bad that the Russian Federation has pre-juged Andrei but he is their skater and I can see how this was a very embarrassing incident for them.

I hope Andrei can bounce back from this stronger than before and wish him good luck in the future.

Yeah, that sounds a lot more likely than the "spiked drink" theory. Long Island Iced Tea has enough ingredients that one wouldn't realize right away that it was alcoholic. Mixed drinks, meanwhile, often have more of an effect than straight wine (my dad always told me to stay away from mixed drinks as much as possible - sound advice).

And being unfamiliar with U.S. currency, he probably didn't think it was unusal to be charged $8.50 for a glass of tea.

Mathman said:

And being unfamiliar with U.S. currency, he probably didn't think it was unusal to be charged $8.50 for a glass of tea.

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Drink was probably free ... but turned out as the "most expensive" drink in the world :sheesh:

One glass of alcohol would not have given him a blood alcohol content of .18. If indeed he was only at the disco for an hour as he and Russian officials say, then Lutai would have had to have at least six or seven Long Island Iced Teas in that hour, in order to get that drunk.

I do not drink alcohol myself, and if I am accidentally given a drink (even a flavored mixed drink) with alcohol in it, I can definitely tell immediately. Years ago, I drank Long Island Iced Teas, and they most definitely taste very, very strongly of alcohol.

I feel badly for Lutai if he is not generally a drinker and made one bad mistake, but his story doesn't really add up. He could not have gotten anywherer near that drunk from one spiked drink or without knowing he was consuming a large amount of alcohol. It also doesn't really make sense that his memory could have blacked out only when he took the car but returned shortly afterward at the police station - people who black out from alcohol stay blacked out until they sleep it off and sober up.

At least he has put to rest the speculation about him being mistreated in a horrible American prison, by saying he was treated politely, fed well and the jail was more like a sports hall.

pippa said:

One glass of alcohol would not have given him a blood alcohol content of .18. If indeed he was only at the disco for an hour as he and Russian officials say, then Lutai would have had to have at least six or seven Long Island Iced Teas in that hour, in order to get that drunk.

I do not drink alcohol myself, and if I am accidentally given a drink (even a flavored mixed drink) with alcohol in it, I can definitely tell immediately. Years ago, I drank Long Island Iced Teas, and they most definitely taste very, very strongly of alcohol.

I feel badly for Lutai if he is not generally a drinker and made one bad mistake, but his story doesn't really add up. He could not have gotten anywherer near that drunk from one spiked drink or without knowing he was consuming a large amount of alcohol. It also doesn't really make sense that his memory could have blacked out only when he took the car but returned shortly afterward at the police station - people who black out from alcohol stay blacked out until they sleep it off and sober up.

At least he has put to rest the speculation about him being mistreated in a horrible American prison, by saying he was treated politely, fed well and the jail was more like a sports hall.

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And he was let go without bail and then permitted to leave the country. There is no doubt that he was treated as "innocent" and not guilty.

On the other hand, the Russian Federation has already declared Lutai guilty.
Maybe he told them more - or perhaps the Russian Federation finds as many holes in his story as you just did.

Lutai's lawyer should have asked for a blood test. If Lutai was "drugged" it probably would show up in a blood test. If this was not done there was a very good reason for it.

Again, this is just a very strange story.

pippa said:

... At least he has put to rest the speculation about him being mistreated in a horrible American prison, by saying he was treated politely, fed well and the jail was more like a sports hall.

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"Horrible" were the chains and the presence of local media... as we have already said

"chains" is a little overdramatic...

Tonichelle said:

"chains" is a little overdramatic...

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and the two reporters who were there hardly constituted a media lynching.

Lutai said he was glad there was virtually no press coverage of the incident and I think his word is good enough for me.

Afterall, the boy is not a horsethief! Otherwise he would have been in real trouble in a cowboy society like USA.

Tonichelle said:

"chains" is a little overdramatic...

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How would you called it: bracelets? :think:

janetfan said:

Afterall, the boy is not a horsethief! Otherwise he would have been in real trouble in a cowboy society like USA.

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Yes, he is lucky boy

well, yes, their non official term is bracelets...

shackles if you want it to stay negative... (but still overdramatic IMHO)