Cherry Injury Law RSS Feed
On Nov. 18, 2008, a 46-year-old police sergeant was in his squad car responding to a robbery call in North Philadelphia at the same time another man in a stolen black Camaro led police officers on a high-speed chase, running through several red lights.
The police sergeant and the career-criminal collided at an intersection, and only one man was able to walk away.
This week, the driver of the stolen Camaro who caused the fatal accident reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. It was ordered that the 44-year-old of Levittown, Pennsylvania, serve between 19 and 40 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and other charges.
The defendant told the court that he was sorry for what he had done and given the chance, he would trade his own life for the police sergeant’s. But the assistant district attorney showed no sympathy and called attention to the man’s lengthy criminal record with 30 convictions over the past 25 years.
“He’s no stranger to putting police officers and civilians in danger,” the assistant district attorney told the court.
The courthouse was packed with the deceased sergeant’s family members and many police officers, a couple of which read letters written by the sergeant’s wife and daughter. The victim’s brother, who is also a member of the police force, told the court that his brother died doing what he loved.
The defense attorney reasoned that the defendant’s long criminal history was mostly due to his drug addiction. During the trial it was revealed that heroin was found on the defendant after the car wreck. However, the defense argued that the defendant was sober at the time of the crash.
The fallen police sergeant was the fourth police officer to be killed while in the line of duty during 2008. The Philadelphia police commissioner expressed his approval of the sentence to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“I think it was the appropriate outcome,” he said. “This guy should never get out on the street again.”
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, “Driver in crash that killed Philly cop gets 19 to 40 years,” Miriam Hill, Oct. 18, 2011.