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Another in a long and continuing line of cases where drunk driving cops are given a pass — this one involving one with twice the legal limit who almost killed a young woman…. 

Woman Nearly Killed in Crash with Off-Duty Boston Police Officer

Boston, MA.  June 26 –  WBZ-TV I-Team investigation raises serious questions about Boston Police and how they handled a car crash involving one of their own officers. It was a horrific crash which nearly killed a young woman on Thursday, May 24th.

Chief Correspondent Joe Shortsleeve says so far the Boston Police officer has not been charged with anything.

The attorney for the crash victim tells the I-Team that the off-duty officer had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system and has learned the officer was going about 70 mph, or about three times the speed limit when he caused the crash in Hyde Park.


It has been more than four weeks since 22-year-old Brianna O’Neill came within inches of dying in the crash.

“I have a fracture at the top of my neck, a C-1 break in my spine,” says O’Neill.

Her Honda Accord was crushed by a Toyota truck at a Hyde Park intersection. The driver of the Toyota was 35-year-old Boston Police officer Richard Jeanetti.

Witness Kelvin Santiago said it was clear that the officer had been drinking. Santiago, who lives a few feet from the intersection, helped Officer Jeanetti out of his mangled truck. “He smelled like liquor. You could smell it right out of the car. And once he talked, saying, ‘oh I did not see her.’”

But despite all that, Officer Jeanetti was not given a breathalyzer and he was not arrested. That troubles Brianna O’Neill’s attorney, Rickie Weiner.

“All these police officers are standing around this guy while my client is lying in the street,” Weiner said. “These are officers who are trained to make observations with regards to intoxication and impairment and the police report which is done in 24 hours does not mention anything about it.”…

Documents obtained by the I-Team raise even more questions about the way Boston Police investigated one of their own. The official police report quotes a key witness, whose car was also hit, as saying Officer Jeanetti, “may not have completely stopped at the all way stop sign at the intersection… but that she was not completely sure.”

Michelle Bethel is that witness. She told the I-Team she never made that statement to police.

“That is false,” she said. “That is entirely false.”

How fast was he going?

“About 70 mph, says Michelle. “He was flying.”

“I told the police that he blew right through the stop sign, like he did not even try to stop,” said Michelle. “He seemed drunk to me. I told them and they did not include that in there either.”

Shortsleeve asked Kelvin Santiago what he thought about the fact that police did not do a breathalyzer.

“It is kind of messed up,” he said. “Any regular citizen would have a gotten one and been arrested.”

Officer Jeanetti has been on “restricted duty” since the crash. His gun has been taken away and his driver’s license revoked.

About the investigation, the Boston Police told the I-Team:

“Officer Jeanetti, is currently on Administrative Restricted Duty and has been since the accident. We can confirm that on the night of the accident, a Boston Police Superintendent was called to scene by supervisors and that all injured persons, including the off-duty officer, were already on their way to area hospitals. An Immediate Threat Report has been filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the officer’s license to operate has been revoked. The Boston Police Department is and has been cooperating fully with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and has recommended that the matter be taken before a Grand Jury. An internal investigation will take place for a review of administrative rules violations following the criminal process.”

For other examples of the "Blue Code", see a few of my previous posts:   The Blue Cover-Up, Guarding the Guardians, The DUI Double Standard, The DUI Double Standard: Another Drunk Driving Cop Gets A "Blue Pass"  and Crossing the Thin Blue Line.

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In today’s news, another cop caught drunk driving and hiding behind the Blue Wall….

Judge Lets Off Statie Chased by Officers


Boston, MA.  July 17 — The state police captain who yesterday admitted prosecutors had enough to prove he was guilty of leading Saugus cops on a late-night chase could be back patrolling Bay State highways in days after a judge gave him a break, state police and prosecutors say.

A Lynn District Court judge continued motor vehicle charges against Capt. Thomas McCarthy without a finding, meaning if the 47-year-old superior officer keeps his nose clean for six months, the charges will be wiped from his record…

Prosecutors had sought drunken driving charges against McCarthy, of Stoneham, after police said he smelled of booze and had an open beer in his cruiser when police stopped him on Route 1 in Saugus on Nov. 19, but a clerk magistrate said there was “insufficient evidence,” because cops never performed a field sobriety test.

Further information was provided in another newspaper article today:

 

….Saugus Police Officer James Scott’s report said McCarthy led Scott and other officers on a pursuit down Route 1 and in Saugus on Nov. 19, 2011. Scott noticed the smell of alcohol on McCarthy’s breath, according to Scott’s report, and officers found an empty beer bottle and two unopened bottles in what State Police last November described as McCarthy’s unmarked cruiser…

Scott wrote in his report that he spotted a black sedan “cross over the center yellow line on numerous occasions” on Central Street just before 11 p.m. last Nov. 19.

The car’s driver did not initially pull over when Scott activated his cruiser lights, but subsequently pulled over on Main Street, according to the report.

Scott recognized McCarthy and “could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath,” according to the report.

Scott asked McCarthy to get out of the car at which point McCarthy told him, “You’ve got to be kidding me, I’m outta here,” according to the report.

Scott and two other Saugus police cruisers pursued McCarthy onto Route 1 and into Square One Mall near Sears, where McCarthy stopped. McCarthy, according to reports, did not initially follow Scott’s orders to throw his keys out of the car.

After he got out of the car, McCarthy refused, according to Scott, to put one arm behind his back. Scott grabbed McCarthy’s right arm and pulled him to the ground, according to the report…

 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the double standard known as the "Blue Code", see a few of my past posts:  The Blue Cover-Up, Guarding the Guardians, The DUI Double Standard and Crossing the Thin Blue Line.
 

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I’ve posted repeatedly in the past about the double standard when it comes to cops who drive drunk.  See, for example, Guarding the Guardians, The Blue Cover-Up, The DUI Double Standard, The DUI Double Standard II and The Thin Blue Line. 

The following news story from a couple of days ago is just another example of this pervasive coverup…..

PCB Officer’s DUI Charge Dismissed

Panama City, FL.  Nov. 14  – A DUI case against a former Panama City Beach police officer has been dismissed because no one could legally prosecute the charges before the defendant’s right to a speedy trial expired.

According to statements made at a Nov. 8 hearing, the 14th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office declared a conflict in the DUI case against David Lee Walker in August. As is procedure when a conflict of interest is declared, the prosecutors in Glenn Hess’ office asked Gov. Rick Scott to intervene and appoint another prosecutor to handle the case. The 1st Judicial Circuit was supposed to take over the case, but they did not receive formal notice from the governor’s office in time for an Oct. 31 trial, according to statements at last week’s motion hearing.

Walker’s defense team did not waive the speedy trial requirements under Florida law and showed up Oct. 31 ready to go a trial, officials said. No one showed up to prosecute the case.

“From time to time we would make inquiries with the governor’s office; it was never assigned,” Bob Pell, the head of the misdemeanor division with the 14th Judicial Circuit, said during the Nov. 8 hearing. “I feel that our circuit has done everything we can possibly do to move the case along.”

At the end of the hearing, Judge Joe Grammer dismissed the charges against Walker. Although the case has been dismissed, prosecutors could appeal, officials said. The 1st Judicial Circuit did eventually get official notification from the governor’s office and sent a notice to Grammer.

The notice arrived the day after he dismissed the case, Grammer said.

Walker and another officer repeatedly sought “professional courtesy” from Trooper Wesley Harsey after Harsey stopped Walker for allegedly driving 50 miles per hour on Front Beach Road after leaving the bar on July 21, according to investigative reports. Walker offered to leave his car parked at the scene and take a taxi home, but Harsey told him he should have done that before they left the bar, the reports said.

Walker initially said he had only two beers, but during the conversation, he eventually admitted to drinking eight or nine beers that night, according to the reports. Ultimately, he refused to submit to a breath test, and Walker resigned shortly after the arrest…

"No one showed up to prosecute the case".  Strange how the system just can’t seem to get it together when it’s a cop facing DUI charges…
 

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