Former Philadelphia Cop Pleads Guilty To DUI, Crashing Into Pa. State Trooper
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A former Philadelphia police officer has pleaded guilty to an off-duty DUI crash that nearly cost a Pennsylvania state trooper his life and his legs.
And after acknowledging that "sorry doesn't cut it," he did offer an apology.
Defendant Matthew Sharkey, 24, pleaded guilty today to aggravated assault while DUI, admitting that he was drunk and speeding on I-95 near Girard Avenue when he smashed into a state police cruiser that had stopped behind an abandoned vehicle partially blocking one lane (see previous story).
Sharkey's car passed another state police vehicle with lights flashing, and ran over warning flares before crashing. Trooper Matthew Sheeran was pinned between his car and the disabled vehicle. The mayhem was caught by the dashboard camera of the other police cruiser.
Watch the Dashboard Cam Video:
Sheeran's legs were shattered. He didn't walk unassisted for eight months but is now back at work.
"Yeah, light duty for the state police, helping out," he told KYW Newsradio today.
And his goal?
"Get back to full duty. And it looks like that is going to be coming up pretty soon."
Sharkey, fired after the crash, will be sentenced in the fall.
Reported by Tony Hanson, KYW Newsradio 1060
