Ask Andrew Kelly, the off-duty police officer who hit and killed a pedestrain – and allegedly managed to stall a blood alcohol test until he was sober – is now pointing fingers at the woman, Vionique Valnord, he struck in Brooklyn, New York after a toxicology report was done on Valnord’s body revealed her own alcohol levels of .22 percent in the blood, .23 percent in the eye fluid and .28 percent in the urine.
Vionique Valnord, 32, lost her life when off duty NYPD officer hit her while allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. (Source: Gothamist)
This is a highly unorthodox move, even for our firm’s San Diego car accident attorneys who have experience with both pedestrian accidents and wrongful deaths that occur because a drunk driver was behind the wheel. But why would Kelly, seven-year veteran the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) 68th Precinct, want to cause Valnord’s family more emotional trauma twisting the blame on her intoxication?
Perhaps losing seven years of his life to the prison system is forcing him to fight back; Valnord’s family, however, is furious and fighting back against his accusations, yet acknowledging the facts as well.
“What does it matter she had something at a wedding if he’s the one driving drunk? She was at least hailing a cab and not driving. He chose to drive drunk,” Valnord’s sister, Ruth Jean, told reporters.
When the pedestrian accident occurred in September, 2009, Valnord was leaving a wedding and trying to hail a cab in the rain when officer Kelly’s SUV ran her over. Three other passengers in the SUV fled from the vehicle and when authorities arrived on the scene, they found several open alcoholic beverages in the vehicle and believed Kelly to be driving under the influence of alcohol. Officers tried to get Kelly to take a breathalyzer or blood alcohol content level (BAC) test, but Kelly managed to delay them doing so until the next morning when his BAC read zero.
Officer Kelly could be facing up to seven years if convicted — he has currently pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, and other charges. DUI accidents are completely preventable and even if Kelly wasn’t driving drunk, he was still the one behind the wheel that hit the young woman and took her life.
What do you think about this story? Do you believe that Kelly was driving drunk and is trying to cover it up, or do you believe that Valnord should shoulder some of the blame for the accident because she was drunk on the street?
There aren’t always easy answers to these questions.
Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced DUI accident attorney and find out how we can help you. We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case. No fee if no recovery.
About Michael PinesMichael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.
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Tags: Off-Duty NYPD Cop, pedestrian accident, wrongful death
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