Felony Charges After Officer Strikes Biker
While it seems, sadly enough, that police officers being charged with drunk driving isn’t as rare as one would hope nowadays, the one agency that seems to go unscathed is usually the Michigan State Police. Not anymore. And to make matters worse, this wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill DUI either.
Lieutenant Jason T. Teddy, a 44-year-old Detective with the Michigan State Police, is facing serious felony charges for having drunkenly crashed into a motorcyclist, causing severe injuries.
According to police records, the incident took place on May 2nd, at about quarter to midnight. Teddy, who was driving a 1999 Lexus on State Park Drive in Bangor Township, struck the biker from behind. The victim, 29-year-old Hilary A. Briggs, was thrown into the street from her 2007 Honda.
Officers from the Bay County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, along with emergency medical personnel. Teddy told the on-scene officers that he and a friend were talking in his car when the motorcycle simply appeared in front of him. He claimed to have had several beers, but didn’t feel at all intoxicated.
Briggs was transported to Bangor Fire Station 7, where she was transferred to a helicopter and airlifted to St. Mary’s of Michigan Medical Center in Saginaw. Later, in an interview with police, Briggs admitted that she too had been drinking that night. But blood tests showed her BAC a few hours after the crash to be at only 0.047.
Teddy, who submitted to a Breathalyzer at the scene, was arrested and taken to the Bay County Jail. Just over an hour later he agreed to a second Breathalyzer test. The results of the first one were 0.153, while the second test registered at 0.11. Michigan’s limit for drunk driving is 0.08.
Teddy is facing two charges as a result of the accident. He has been charged with a single count each of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing serious injury. The second charge is a five year felony under Michigan law.
After filing the charges, the Bay County Prosecutor’s Office requested that a special prosecutor be assigned in order to avoid a conflict of interest. State Attorney General Bill Schuette agreed, and assigned the Isabella County Prosecutor, Risa Hunt-Scully.
