|
MILFORD -- Police Chief Keith Mello wants to fire the officer who accidentally killed two Orange teens in June when his cruiser broadsided their car on the Boston Post Road.
The Police Commission will review Mello's recommendation to terminate Officer Jason Anderson, a five-year member of the force, at its Monday night meeting, according to the agenda.
The latest development in the tragic saga of the June 13 Orange crash comes on the heels of the revelation that the teens had been drinking that fatal night, and both apparently had blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit at the time of the accident.
A State Police investigation found Anderson was driving 94 miles per hour when he crashed into the teens, who were traveling in the opposite direction and attempted a left-hand turn onto Dogwood Road in front of his cruiser at roughly 2 a.m.
The officer is charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter and is free on $250,000 bond while his case is pending in Milford Superior Court. He has been on paid suspension since the crash.
Quoting unnamed sources, the New Haven Register reported Thursday toxicology results show both Ashlie Krakowski and David Servin, who was driving, had blood-alcohol levels of 0.13. Both were 19 years old, but the legal blood-alcohol limit for adults is 0.08. Those figures could not be confirmed.
Krakowski and Servin, who were dating, attended a party in Milford a few hours before the crash, where witnesses reported they were "tipsy" and said they had been playing beer pong.
The party's host, 21-year-old Jaycen Munro, of Heenan Drive in Milford, was charged by State Police last month with providing alcohol to minors.
Sources have also said police found marijuana in the teens' car.
Anderson's New Haven lawyer, Hugh F. Keefe, declined Thursday to comment on the toxicology reports. He said there is a court order preventing their public release.
Jeffrey Meyer, a criminal law professor at Quinnipiac University's School of Law, said even if the teens were considered drunk under the legal standard, it will likely not decrease Anderson's culpability in the case.
"It does not appear to be a game-changer," said Meyer, who had been a federal prosecutor for a decade.
Although the teens' drinking may intensify the tragedy, it doesn't excuse reckless behavior on Anderson's part, he said.
"At the end of the day, the job of police officers is to be keeping an eye out for drunk drivers, not ramming into them at 95 miles per hour for no reason," Meyer said. "It's the police officer, above all, that we expect to be complying with the law, not engaging in joy-riding down public highways."
Although civil law often takes into account "contributory negligence," criminal law doesn't typically allow that defense in cases such as this -- just like an unlocked bank doesn't justify theft, he said.
Lawyers representing the families of Krakowski and Servin, John Wynne and Bart Halloran, respectively, did not return calls requesting comment.
The families have filed notice of their intent to sue Milford and its Police Department.
Anderson and Officer Richard Pisani were heading back to Milford from a mutual-aid call in West Haven on the night of the accident. A video camera installed in Pisani's cruiser recorded both officers speeding far above the posted limit of 40 mph. Pisani accelerated up to 72 mph and was driving at about 65 when Anderson barreled by him on the right, shortly before crashing into the teens.
The Police Commission agenda Monday states the board will also consider "the performance of" Pisani, indicating that he faces departmental charges and discipline, but not termination.
Internal investigations into the conduct of both officers before the crash indicated Pisani, a probationary officer, had not played a role in the crash.
Mello declined to comment until after Monday's meeting.
Anderson's blood-alcohol content was also tested after the crash, showing he had no alcohol in his system.
State police reported that the power control module from the police vehicle indicated that for the nearly nine seconds leading up to the crash, Anderson was pushing the accelerator pedal at 100 percent. Then, six-tenths of a second before impact, he slowed down slightly and hit his brakes.
The Police Commission will meet at 7 p.m. in police headquarters, 430 Boston Post Road.
|