A former Pennsylvania police officer has been sentenced to 10 days of monitored home confinement and six months of rigorous supervised release known as intermediate punishment in connection with a January 2019 drunk driving accident that left a pedestrian seriously injured. The sentence, which was handed down by a Court of Common Pleas judge on June 26, was part of a plea agreement. Prosecutors wanted the former detective to spend a weekend behind bars, but the judge decided on home monitoring. The man originally faced second- and third-degree felony charges.

The accident took place on Larkin Road in Upper Chichester at about 11:22 p.m. The pedestrian struck by the former officer's pickup truck suffered injuries including a broken right fibula and a broken right clavicle. He was wearing reflective clothing and a flashing red light when he was struck according to reports.

The former officer failed to stop after striking the pedestrian, but he was pulled over a short distance later when a police officer noticed his vehicle. He is said to have told the officer that he had consumed two beers and thought he had hit a deer. He was taken into custody after performing poorly during a series of field sobriety exercises. Officers at the scene say that they detected the odor of alcohol on his breath and clam that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy. A subsequent breath test revealed his blood alcohol concentration to be .143%. The legal driving limit in Pennsylvania is .08%.

The outcome of this case reveals the type of charging and sentencing concessions that prosecutors are often prepared to make to resolve DWI cases quickly. This is why experienced criminal defense attorneys may urge motorists concerned about drunk driving charges to resist the impulse to flee law enforcement no matter how dire their situations may seem.