By Joe Gerrety, Journal and Courier

Vickie Schlene was filled with anger and disbelief when she went to Benton Circuit Court Dec. 11 for her first chance to see and confront the reckless teen-ager that caused the death of her big brother, Jay "Rocky" Painter.

But when she laid eyes on Jacob Brost, a clean-cut 19-year-old with a good employment history despite a drinking and marijuana habit for which he'd already sought treatment, her anger was tempered by a sense of purpose.

"I was picturing this monster, and in walks this very normal-looking kid. This young kid could take the life of a very vibrant, very active man," Schlene said.

"I felt for his parents, as one parent to another. I can't imagine what they must be going through."

Someone was responsible for turning that young man into an alcoholic, and that someone needed to be held accountable.

Schlene said that normal-looking kid became a loaded weapon the night of June 15, 2001, when he went to a party, drank a large amount of beer and some whiskey, and then got behind the wheel of a pickup truck.

His vehicle went left of center on Indiana 352 about 3 the next morning and collided with a car driven by Painter, 51, of Ambia, who was on his way to work at Wabash National Corp.

A blood test indicated Brost had a blood-alcohol content of 0.13 percent after the crash.

Painter left a wife of 22 years and two children -- a son in the Navy and a daughter who went through her high school commencement last month without her dad there to watch.

"I believe he truly was sorry," Schlene said, recalling Brost at his sentencing. "But sorry doesn't bring my brother back. Sorry doesn't take away his wife's heartache."

Schlene, of West Lafayette, suffers her own heartache. Rocky, as her brother was known to his siblings, was a tinkerer who loved to fix things, an attribute he inherited from his dad, Jay, who died seven years ago.

"The thing I miss most about him is he was the spitting image of our father, and as he got older it was even more pronounced," Schlene said.

A Navy veteran, Painter loved to travel, but he also liked being home with his family. He and his wife, Jane, recently had begun talking about retirement.

Painter had worked in maintenance at Wabash National for 14 years after a brief career as a sheriff's deputy in Benton County.

"He was very concerned about the amount of underage drinking that was happening," Schlene said. "He would even volunteer for extra duty on Friday and Saturday nights just to keep the drunk drivers off the road."

Schlene said her brother left law enforcement to take a job with better pay and benefits -- "Trying to take care of his family," she said.

Painter's widow is pursuing a civil lawsuit in an effort to hold accountable the people who hosted the party where Brost got drunk, a party attended by dozens of underage people where beer was free for the taking, according to Brost's testimony at his sentencing.

According to Journal and Courier research during the past 18 months, the average age of 15 impaired drivers who caused fatal crashes in the Lafayette area was 31. Only two were teen-agers.

"But when did those 30-year-olds start drinking?" Schlene said.

Parents' role cited

Schlene, who has 6- and 10-year-old sons, said neglectful parents have a role in the problems of underage and drunken driving.

"My opinion is that it all goes back to parents need to be parents," she said. "We need to know what our kids are doing and who they're doing it with."

Schlene said she feels regret not only because of her loss and the chaos Brost's crime caused for her brother's family, but its impact on those who love and depend on Brost -- his parents, his friends, and his employer, a roofing contractor who said he trusted Brost to supervise crews for him. Brost was sentenced to 31/2 years in jail.

"There were a lot of people affected by this," Schlene said. "I hope it makes his friends think the next time they go out drinking."

And she hopes Brost realizes that his own career as a six-pack-a-day drinker has caused enough damage for a lifetime.

"I hope he swears off drinking. I hope he devotes himself to something positive ... to turn this tragedy into something other than a tragedy," Schlene said.

18 states to go

According to the National Commission Against Drunk Driving, 32 states, the District of Columbia and Washington DC have adopted 0.08 as the legal drunken driving standard. The following states have not adopted 0.08: