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DWI Cop Delayed Blood Alcohol Test for Seven Hours
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 29, 2009
Modified Sep 29, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 29, 2009
Modified Sep 29, 2009
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The off-duty NYPD officer accused of DWI and vehicular manslaughter in the death of a Brooklyn pedestrian early Sunday morning managed to avoid having his blood alcohol level tested for over seven hours after the crash. As victim Vionique Valnord lay dying, officer Andrew Kelly, who was slurring his speech and reeked of alcohol, refused to take a Breathalyzer test, and told first responders he wouldn't easily submit to a blood test either: "I'm not going to let that happen," he said, according to a Daily News source. "You're going to have to tie me down."
The accident happened at 12:41 a.m., but the Brooklyn DA's office wasn't notified until 1:54 a.m. Then it took almost four hours for prosecutors to get a judge to grant a warrant to draw Kelly's blood. Kelly was taken to Kings County Hospital at 5:52 a.m., but he wouldn't consent to give blood, and the doctor, wrongly believing that consent was necessary, refused to do it. After a "flurry of phone calls," Kelly's blood was finally taken about 8 a.m., seven hours and 20 minutes after the accident. Interestingly, that's also a half hour after Kelly was to have reported to work, the Post reports.
According to the News, Kelly had been barhopping with another off-duty cop after the two of them worked overtime at Yankee Stadium that day; they were en route to another bar when Kelly's SUV struck Valnord, who was trying to hail a cab after a wedding reception in Flatbush. Sources say Kelly downed six to eight beers at one of the bars. The other officer, Michael Downs, has been suspended for 30 days for leaving the scene; he claims a responding officer told him he could leave.
Tagged
andrew kelly
brooklyn
cop
dwi
flatbush
michael downs
nypd
off-duty
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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