By Andrew L. Jaffee

Representative Patrick Kennedy seems to be faithfully following in the footsteps of his father, Senator Ted Kennedy: political power, wealth… and legal troubles. Papa Kennedy was involved in a traffic accident in 1969 (Chappaquiddick, MA), fled the scene, allowed his girlfriend to drown, and waited 8 hours to report the incident. Yesterday, Patrick Kennedy was involved in a car crash, and may have been given a free pass by police. From Mercury News:

Rep. Patrick Kennedy wrecked his car in an early morning accident on Capitol Hill Thursday, and police say supervisors stopped them from giving him a sobriety test.

Two police union officials, who were not at the scene, complained that the Rhode Island congressman and son of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., looked like he’d been drinking after crashing into a barrier near the Capitol building at 2:45 a.m.

“The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering,” Officer Greg Baird, the acting head of the Capitol police union, wrote in a letter to his boss, according to the newspaper Roll Call.

Lou Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Kennedy looked intoxicated.

“It’s my understanding that he had an odor of alcohol about him and he was unsteady on his feet,” Cannon said.

This was only one in a string of Patrick’s shenanigans. Here’s the young Kennedy’s track record, from the Boston Herald:

March 26, 2000:

A videotape captures Kennedy pushing a 58-year-old airport security guard backward and bumping the metal detector archway at Los Angeles International Airport. The catalyst apparently was that his luggage was too big for carry-on and he was disturbed the guard did not recognize him.

Summer 2000:

The Coast Guard removes a former Hub woman from a yacht for her safety after she and Kennedy had some drinks and a tiff. Kennedy had rented the yacht and trashed it, causing $28,000 in damage.

July 2001:

Kennedy makes remarks to the Pawtucket Times about U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California. Kennedy says he is guilty of cheating on his wife and in the mysterious disappearance of the Washington intern he was having an affair with.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006:

While watching a demonstration of Impact Gel, a shock-absorbing material, Kennedy takes one to the face when a hammer head flies off the handle and hits him in the mouth. He gets six stitches to his bottom lip at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket and cancels several public appearances.

Saturday, April 15, 2006:

Kennedy tries to turn into a CVS parking lot in Portsmouth, R.I., but turns into the vehicle in front of him instead.