Lodi Teacher Offered Plea Deal In Accident That Injured Bergen County Police Officer
HACKENSACK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) - Prosecutors are offering a plea deal to a Lodi teacher accused of driving drunk when he rear-ender a police car, leaving the officer with a traumatic brain injury.
Michael Ettz would face seven years in prison if he accepts the deal.
Ettz has pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault, assault by auto while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.
Prosecutors say Ettz struck Bergen County Police Officer Daniel Breslin's vehicle from behind in April. Breslin had stopped in the right lane to assist another officer who had pulled onto the shoulder to repair a radio.
Breslin suffered a brain injury that left him hospitalized for months and is undergoing therapy.
Ettz's lawyer, Brian Neary told The Record newspaper he would not comment on the plea offer.
Many students at Lodi High School voiced their shock about the allegations against their teacher in April.
"I was shocked to hear it because he didn't strike me as somebody who would do something like this," said student Joseph Lafranca.
"He's a very great person, very outgoing, caring and would do anything for anybody in need," student Lebria Breks said.
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