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Ex-Cop Gets 90 Days For Drunkenly Mowing Down Woman
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 8, 2010
Modified Sep 8, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 8, 2010
Modified Sep 8, 2010
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A seven-year NYPD veteran has accepted a plea deal that will result in 90 days in jail for fatally running over a 32-year-old Brooklyn woman as she tried to hail a cab one night in September 2009. Police officer Andrew Kelly—who famously stalled his blood alcohol test for seven hours after the accident—pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter today and also turned in his badge. When the judge asked him if he accepted the fact that his drunk driving caused Vionique Valnord's death, he quietly answered "yes." And after pleading guilty, he approached Valnord's father, Reverend Varius Valnord.
"The reverend told Andrew, I forgive you. We forgive you," Kelly's attorney tells NY1. "I don't want anymore pain to be caused to anybody. And Andrew said, that was more generous than I could ever have imagined." After his 90 days in jail, Kelly will serve five years' probation, and he must also complete an alcohol rehabilitation program. And when he gets his license back in a year, he'll be required to use a breathalyzer ignition lock in his car.
Though Valnord's father has accepted Kelly's apology, he is still suing the city, accusing Kelly's fellow NYPD officers of helping in a cover-up. First responders said Kelly was slurring his speech and reeked of booze after the fatal accident, but by the time a warrant to draw his blood was acted upon, there was no alcohol left in his system. After an Internal Affairs investigation, the NYPD suspended an officer who gave Kelly chewing gum and two bottles of water at the crash site. "It's a cover-up," declared Valnord when the lawsuit was filed in March. "Because why take so much time to take blood from the police officer? If it was me, they would have taken it right away."
Tagged
andrew kelly
dwi
nypd
vehicular manslaughter
Vionique Valnord
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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