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sixate · 06-18-2003, 05:16 PM

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Quote:

Bishop O'Brien arrested in fatal hit-and-run

Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien, already beleaguered by a sexual misconduct scandal involving clergy, was arrested Monday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run accident in Phoenix.

The prelate's new turmoil, nearly biblical in scope, may put Arizona's Catholic leadership in limbo as it rocks a diocese that has endured months of tortured scrutiny about deviant priests who were allowed to prey on children.

Investigators say O'Brien was behind the wheel of a tan Buick Park Avenue that struck and killed Jim Lee Reed, 43, at 8:35 p.m. Saturday on Glendale Avenue just west of 19th Avenue.

The 67-year-old bishop was picked up Monday on suspicion of leaving a fatal accident scene, a Class 4 felony, and taken to Madison Street Jail. Before he could be booked, medical screeners determined that O'Brien suffered from high blood pressure. After a visit to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, he was booked into Maricopa County Jail.

Earlier in the day, he declined to speak with reporters outside his north Phoenix home, which had been cordoned off by police.

Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, who is responsible for prosecuting O'Brien, declined comment. Last month, Romley struck a deal allowing the Roman Catholic leader to avoid criminal indictment for obstructing justice in connection with priestly pedophilia cases. As part of that settlement, O'Brien admitted concealing sex abuse cases and agreed to major diocesan reforms.

O'Brien has been hounded by calls for his resignation, in some cases by prominent Catholics. Those demands are expected to accelerate as a result of his new legal woes and the moral issues associated with leaving an accident scene.

Vatican officials declined comment Monday, but Msgr. Richard Moyer, the diocese's chief of staff, said: "I sincerely regret reports I have received about Bishop O'Brien being involved in a fatal accident. The sympathy of all of us in the Diocese of Phoenix as well as our prayerful support goes out to the victim's family."

Catholics were taken aback by O'Brien's plight, but most emphasize the clear distinction between the church as an institution and flawed humans who comprise its priestly hierarchy. Some wondered if the alleged hit-and-run is a manifestation of weakness -- or of panic from someone under intense stress. Many also expressed sympathy for a church paragon whose fortunes have plummeted.

Rep. Robert Meza, a Phoenix Democrat who has led a group of Hispanics upset with O'Brien's handling of the sex abuse scandal, expressed only compassion for the Bishop on Monday.

You know what? I'm saddened by the whole thing but you are innocent until proven guilty," Meza said.

"It's devastating. I think he's under a lot of pressure and the stress and pressure finally got to him," Meza added. "I hurt for him and I hope everything works out and I'm sad for the person who was killed."

Disraught members of the victim's family from Phoenix to his birthplace on the Navajo reservation said Reed's death destroyed plans for a reunion over Father's Day. "We loved him a lot," said a sister, Janice L. Acothley, of Tuba City. "We're just glad we spent all those precious moments together . . . It wasn't his time to go. We will always remember him."

Police say Reed was J-walking across Glendale Avenue when he got hit by the eastbound Buick, then run over by a second vehicle. He was pronounced dead at John C. Lincoln Hospital-North Mountain.

Both drivers left without stopping. However, a witness pursued the 2003 Buick and obtained its Arizona plate number, then returned to the scene and provided that information to police. The license number -- 547 HBE -- is registered to the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix.

Sgt. Lauri Williams, a police spokeswoman, said detectives traced the car to O'Brien on Sunday, but were unable to locate him or the Buick until Monday morning. Investigators interviewed O'Brien at his north Phoenix residence. At one point he came outside with them to inspect the vehicle before it was towed to an impound yard.

Williams said O'Brien told detectives he is the only person who drives the Buick, and that he had returned from Buckeye on Saturday after officiating at an evening confirmation and Mass there. Williams said O'Brien admitted "he was driving the vehicle and he might have hit something, but we don't know more."

Reed is listed as six feet tall and 235 pounds. The right front end of O'Brien's car was damaged and the windshield was concaved and fractured.

Authorities emphasized that, at this point, O'Brien does not face a vehicular manslaughter charge. As police investigate further, two legal issues work to his benefit: Reed purportedly was crossing the street illegally; and, because O'Brien left the scene, authorities are unable to determine whether he was impaired by alcohol or drugs at the time of the accident.

Prior to O'Brien's arrest Monday, the Catholic diocese issued a notice to priests advising them of the new controversy. The message included this note: "Please keep the man who was killed in your prayers, together with his family. Please keep the bishop in your prayers in this moment of anguish."

Diocesan attorney Greg Leisse, who met with O'Brien while police were at the bishop's home, said afterward: "He seems upset, but he seems well."

If convicted and found not responsible for the homicide, O'Brien faces a sentence ranging from probation to 3¾ years in prison. A conviction based on culpability for the accident could increase the sentence to as much as 8¾ years.

Don't you all just love the hypocrisy of religion?
Well, I don't. It makes me sick. This asshole should be locked up or run over by that mans family.
The thing that drives me nuts even more is I know plenty of people who defend this guy because they have the same religious beliefs. Tell me that's not retarded. Another thing that drives me insane is I'm sure this dumb prick thinks he'll still go to heaven and spend the rest of eternity there. What a crock of shit. Shit like this is exactly why I have always been and always will be an atheist, and if there really is heaven and hell I'd much rather burn in hell for eternity than spend eternity with lying assholes like that.