The pilot declined to comment or give his name.
Swansea police prevented Busch, 53, from taking off in the Bell 407 helicopter Monday night. He was held overnight by police and released Tuesday afternoon.
The helicopter initially landed about 12:48 p.m. Monday, but police responded to the parking lot Monday night because a caller told police that an “intoxicated male was getting into the helicopter and attempting to fly away,” according to a search warrant application.
A judge ordered Busch to give blood, urine or other bodily fluid samples. No charges have been filed as of Wednesday.
When Busch tried to take off Monday night, he had four loaded guns, eight dogs and prescription pills with him. His wife, Dawna M. Wood, was also in the helicopter.
Busch took a portable breathalyzer at the scene, which came back negative for alcohol, according to the search warrant.
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Swansea Police Department
On 07-10-17 at 12:48 PM Swansea Police Officers were dispatched to a report of a helicopter landing, for an unknown reason, at 1 Bronze Point, Swansea. Upon their arrival the helicopter was already on the ground in a parking lot. Assessment of the area and safety of the helicopter taking off due to close obstacles and buildings was of concern. Chief Steve Johnson contacted the FAA and they advised they would investigate the landing and requested pictures and information. The requested information was forwarded.
On 07-10-17 at 8:14 PM Swansea Police Officers were notified by a caller the pilot had returned to the helicopter and appeared too intoxicated to take off. When a Swansea Officer arrived the helicopter rotors were spinning and the engine was revving up. The Officer turned on the emergency lights on the squad car and the pilot powered down the engine. A second Swansea Officer arrived on scene. After a conversation with the pilot Standardized Field Sobriety Tests were performed on the pilot. Due to the totality of the circumstances the pilot was taken into custody. The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office issued a search warrant for the blood, urine, breath or other bodily substance of the pilot. The pilot was transported to a local hospital where this was performed.
Swansea Police Chief Steve Johnson said, “We have been in close communications and coordination with the FAA and the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office. This is not your normal case that a street police officer handles. The safety and security of the community, the pilot and passenger were of the utmost concern. The pilot was released from custody on 07-11-17 at 12:28 PM pending completion of the investigation. Family members are contacting another pilot to remove the helicopter.”
SWANSEA -- August Adolphus Busch IV, the former CEO of Anheuser-Busch, was flying his helicopter with four loaded guns, each with a round in the chamber; eight dogs; prescription pills and his wife riding along, according to police accounts and a search warrant application filed Tuesday.
The search warrant, signed by St. Clair County Associate Judge William Clay, commanded Busch to give blood, urine or other bodily fluid at Memorial Hospital in Belleville after his helicopter was found on a parking lot in Swansea.
This was after Busch took a portable breathalyzer at the scene, which came back negative for alcohol, according to the search warrant.
The helicopter initially landed about 12:48 p.m. Monday. But it was about eight hours later when a caller told police that an “intoxicated male was getting into the helicopter and attempting to fly away,” the search warrant stated.
Swansea Officer Cheryl Venorsky arrived as the helicopter was preparing to take off. Venorsky turned on her emergency lights, and the pilot, later identified as Busch IV, shut the copter down, the court record stated.
Officer Jason Frank then got to the scene and found Busch, leaning against Venorsky’s squad car.
“I 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.”
Frank then gave Busch a breathalyzer, which came back .000 for alcohol. Frank asked Busch to complete some field sobriety tests.
Frank approached the helicopter and talked to Busch’s wife, Dawna M. Wood, who was seated inside.
“When asked, Dawna advised August Adolphus Busch IV has anxiety issues and is off of his medication due to recent fertility treatment. I made contact with August Adolphus Busch IV and I advised August Adolphus Busch IV and he was free to go,” Frank wrote. “Instead of departing, August Adolphus Busch IV continued to ramble about things that were unrelated. At that point, due to his continued ramblings, I became suspicious and I reinitiated my investigation.”
Frank wrote Busch continually changed subjects during their conversation.
“Taking the totality of circumstances into consideration, I believed (Busch) could be under the influence of a controlled substance. I advised (Busch) he was no longer allowed to get into his helicopter and fly away,” Frank wrote.
It was then that Busch told Frank he had a concealed carry permit and had a Rohrbaugh R9 9mm ... in his front pants pocket. Busch asked if Frank wanted him to take the gun out. Frank said yes.
“As I removed the Rohrbaugh R9 (Busch) advised the Rohrbaugh R9 was ‘hot,’” Frank wrote.
Frank put the gun inside the helicopter, according to the affidavit, and called Swansea Police Chief Steve Johnson.
Inside the helicopter, police found four bottles containing prescriptions in the chopper, according to the search warrant. Two were prescribed for Busch: Alprazolam, which is also marketed under the brand Xanax and is a minor tranquilizer, and Clonazepam, another tranquilizer that is used to treat panic attacks.
The other two prescription drugs were prescribed for his wife, the document showed.
At some point, Busch told the officers that he was having an anxiety attack and started jumping around and running sprints, saying he was trying to get oxygen to cope with the anxiety attack.
Once Busch calmed, Busch allowed Frank to pat search him, then Frank asked if he could search his helicopter. Frank wrote that he found a pepper spray gun, a Ruger .22 revolver, a Ruger .357 Magnum revolver and a Glock .357 Magnum. All the guns were loaded.
Busch was given a second set of field sobriety tests.
Busch was then arrested and taken to the Swansea Police Department.
Swansea police requested the help of a drug recognition expert with Fairview Heights Police Department. The officer said he would need some time to report his findings.
Frank stated he needed to retain the evidence collected in the investigation and possible prosecution of Busch for reckless conduct, unlawful use of a weapon and intoxicated person in or about an aircraft. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday.
Busch’s wife was allowed to leave, taking the eight dogs with her, Johnson said.
Busch, 53, is a commercial pilot with certificates in airplanes, single and multiengine planes, instrument airplanes and rotocraft helicopters.
No injuries were reported.
Cameron Wiggs, a data coordinator at OneSource in Bronze Pointe, said he and co-workers watched the helicopter land in the office complex parking lot off Illinois 159 on Monday afternoon.
The woman passenger got out and walked into a nearby office building, Wiggs said. Then, a black sport utility vehicle pulled up and the driver and pilot began to unload dogs from the chopper.
“There must have been seven or eight of them. All black and white. Shih tzus, maybe,” Wiggs said.
Police came an hour or two after the helicopter landed, talked to the pilot and driver, then left, Wiggs said.
Johnson issued a news release Tuesday afternoon, stating police received a call that a helicopter was landing for an unknown reason at 1 Bronze Point in Swansea at 12:48 p.m. Monday. When police arrived, they found the helicopter on the ground, too close to obstacles and buildings, Johnson said. The Federal Aviation Administration was contacted by Johnson and was advised that they would investigate the landing. The FAA also requested pictures and information.
“We have been in close communications and coordination with the FAA and the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office,” the news release stated. “This is not your normal case that a street police officer handles. The safety and security of the community, the pilot and passenger were of the utmost concern. The pilot was released for custody on (Tuesday) at 12:28 p.m. pending completion of the investigation. Family members are contacting another pilot to remove the helicopter.”
A woman in a black Audi RS7 with Missouri plates arrived about 10:30 a.m. She left after spotting reporters, but returned and picked Busch up about 12:45 p.m. when Busch emerged from the police department.
Busch could not be reached for comment.
The Bell helicopter is listed to Jagger 4 LLC, a Missouri corporation. The helicopter is registered to 18130 Edison Ave. in Chesterfield, Mo., at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport.
August Busch IV is the great-great-grandson of Adolphus Busch, the founder of Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. He was the last Busch family member to control the huge company before it was purchased by InBev, the Belgium-based brewing giant in a hostile takeover in 2008.
In 2010, Adrienne Nicole Martin, 27, Busch’s girlfriend, was found dead at his home in Huntleigh, Mo., at a time when Busch was in the house. A prosecutor in St. Louis County stated that after high levels of oxycodone and cocaine were found in her system at autopsy, her death was ruled an accidental overdose, according to news reports. In 2012, a lawsuit in her death brought by Martin’s former husband was settled for $1.75 million. No charges were filed in connection with Martin’s death.
In 1983, Busch was involved in a car crash while attending the University of Arizona that resulted in the death of a 21-year-old woman passenger. According to news accounts, Busch left the scene and was later found by police at his townhouse with a sawed off shotgun and in a dazed state. Busch, who suffered a skull fracture, was not charged.
In January, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Busch was involved in an altercation at a bank in Key West, Fla., when a man became angry with the way Busch had parked his car alleging it blocked access to an ATM machine. When the man confronted him, Busch allegedly pulled a licensed handgun, but kept it pointed at the ground. Busch was not charged.
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ReplyDeleteThis fellow needs to get off the dope before he kills himself and a few more friends.
I get anxious about stuff but I do not go to the pill box or booze bar to calm down.
ReplyDeleteThis fellow was not airworthy.
I am glad the officer said "stay out of the chopper".
He needs to find another way to deal with anxiety.
Guns, dope, depression and choppers do not fly well.
Busch has had at least four other run-ins with the law .....
ReplyDeleteThese run-ins are significant "yellow flags" and there's a low bridge in his future if he doesn't get his act together.
Departure video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO-Rkuez5lU
ReplyDeleteI won't comment on the fitness (or, potentially, lack thereof) of the pilot in this case. But it bothers me that the chopper in the pics above is deemed "too close to obstacles". What do they think it is, a Bonanza? The local medivac chopper here in OKC is BASED closer to obstacles than that (their landing pad is right by the side of the road, in front of the hospital, with streetlights and sign boards all around). I remember an old video of a biplane landing next to a building and rolling up the steps a few feet (I think it was one of the government buildings in Washington DC, in fact). I always thought a public parking lot would be a great place to park a chopper if I ever had one. Whatever happened to the days of pilots landing their planes in various impromptu places around town and the public loving it. We are far too controlled, too restricted, too risk-averse these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna step on his fingers ;)
ReplyDeleteI met Mr Busch once and even though I was a total nobody he was nice enough to me. We went to the same high school and we talked about that for about maybe a half-hour. It is very sad when someone who has had all the advantages has some issues like this. He could have accomplished so much more with his life, and maybe still will. Other people are allowed to make their mistakes with out much fanfare.
ReplyDelete