The big news around here this week was the death of local celebrity and star of the Jackass movie franchise, Ryan Dunn. I have not seen any of the Jackass movies and generally disliked the television show because it made me worry that my stepsons would get hurt emulating their reckless behavior. As details have come out about Dunn’s last night on Earth, the whole thing has hit me a little closer to home. He was drinking in a bar called Barnaby’s which used to be my watering hole in the mid-1990’s when it was called something else and was basically a blues and jazz club. I lived two blocks away at the time. He then went with his buddy to a Wawa convenience store that I use on a semi-regular basis and waited in the car while his friend purchased some sandwiches. After that, he traced back to the West Chester bypass, which is a nice straightaway with almost no traffic even during the day, and took his $100,000 black Porsche 911 GT3 up to an estimated speed of 135-145 mph before losing control, spinning out, and careening through a guard rail into the woods. Then it burst into flames.

His main problem, aside from his reckless speed, was that his blood alcohol was twice the legal limit. This was the result of drinking approximately three beers and eight shots over a four-hour period. And the police have vindicated the bar, bartender, and waiter because they did not know that fans were buying him drinks. Police speculate that drinks provided to Dunn at last call were spiking his blood alcohol level a half-hour later when he crashed.

I guess you can add free drinks to the perils of celebrity.

I don’t even know why I’m writing about this except that it’s been on my mind. I didn’t even know the guy existed before he died.

I guess I hope that some kids will learn a cautionary tale from his early demise. I’m guessing they never had a chance to eat those sandwiches.

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