A Louisiana cop is back on duty after a mere 5 day suspension and a speeding ticket for running into and killing a pedestrian in his unmarked patrol car in late June.
Baton Rouge officer Frederick Thorton fatally struck 42-year-old Phillip Clark, of Meridian, at about 5:40 p.m. on June 27, reported WAFB.
Baton Rough police Sgt. L’Jean McKneely refused to say how fast Thorton was going at the time of the incident, but he did receive a speeding ticket, which means they were able to deduce that he was definitely going over the speed limit when he attempted to drive around an ambulance crossing in front of him at an intersection and hit Clark, who was crossing the street.
A man who witnessed the incident stated the patrol car was traveling “very fast” at the time of incident.
“He was going too fast to think about what he was going to do. He couldn’t stop and so it looked like he went even faster to try to beat the ambulance because there was no way he was going to stop for the ambulance,” the witness said.
Clark, an 8 year veteran of the department, was on-duty at the time he caused the fatality, and was NOT on an emergency call. He was simply headed to an assignment for the street crimes unit.
McKneely refused to indicate what assignment Thorton was on or whether or not the particular assignment was time-sensitive.
Although the Baton Rouge Police Department concluded their internal affairs investigation about two weeks ago, which cleared Thorton, District Attorney Hillar C. Moore says a separate investigation by his office is still ongoing “to determine if any formal charges will be filed.”
Source: http://countercurrentnews.info