DUI and Hit-and-Run

Just under two years ago, two Los Angeles police officers arrested a driver for a hit-and-run, but allegedly failed to conduct DUI procedures as witnesses say the driver was very drunk. The officers are now being accused of one felony count each and could face prison time. If anyone is drunk and gets behind the wheel, consequences should be expected. A case like this is an example of how long consequences can be drawn out for all parties involved.

Two Los Angeles police officers have been charged with covering up a crash involving a drunk driver and later filing a false police report, prosecutors say.

Following an internal affairs inquiry, Officers Rene Ponce and Irene Gomez were charged Sept. 6 with a felony count each of filing a false report and conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Both pleaded not guilty last week.

The two were patrolling the Hollenbeck Division’s Boyle Heights area on Oct. 26, 2014, when they were dispatched to a crash in the 3000 block of East Side Boulevard.

Prosecutors said an intoxicated driver had smashed into two parked vehicles, but the officers opted not to conduct a drunk driving investigation.

In their report, Ponce, 39, and Gomez, 38, lied and wrote that the driver had fled the scene, according to the felony complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-officers-charged-dui-crash-20160913-snap-story.html