They say that to err is human, to forgive, divine. In his 17 seasons patrolling first base for the Colorado Rockies, Todd Helton made his share of errors. But he more than made up for the occasional miscue on the field by smacking baseballs over the outfield wall.
The Rockies icon retired at the end of last season, so when the team recently celebrated its home opener at Denver’s Coors Field, Helton was missing from the line-up. But his Helton Burger Shack was open for business in the park, with a special promise to customers: 50 cents from each purchase will be given to a charity of the former first-sacker’s choice.
That certainly qualifies as a laudable gesture from a man casually dismissed by one local sports pundit as “a guy whose most newsworthy accomplishment in his final season was a DUI.”
You might recall the widespread coverage of Helton’s DUI arrest more than a year ago.
As NBC Sports reported at the time, Helton was arrested in February of last year after he apparently struck a median with his vehicle. He told responding officers that he had earlier in the evening consumed “two Igloo cups of red wine.”
His tested blood alcohol content was 0.102 percent; the legal threshold in Colorado is 0.08 percent.
Helton reportedly drove to a gas station that night to buy lottery tickets.
In May, he was sentenced to a year of probation, 24 hours of community service and a $400 fine after he pled guilty to driving while ability impaired.
Few people will get the media exposure Helton received after his arrest, but they can face the loss of driving privileges, fines, probation and more. An experienced DUI attorney can help fight for your rights and license.
Source: Fox 31, “Got Rockies resentment? Fight it with a Helton Burger,” Will C. Holden, April 4, 2014