Andrew Kelly, Off-Duty NYPD Officer, Arrested & Charged with Manslaughter, DWI for Death of Vionique Valnord, Officer Michael Downs, Fled Scene of Accident

NY Police Officer Andrew Kelly was charged with manslaughter and driving under the influence in the death of Vionique Valnord, 32, as she hailed a cab in Old Mill Basin, Brooklyn, at 12:41 a.m. Sunday. What is equally reprehensible is the fact that it took authorities more than seven hours to draw blood from Kelly, who struck the preacher's daughter while driving back to a bar for more alcohol. According to the NY Daily News, the time lag was partly the fault of a doctor who thought the officer's consent was necessary before he could draw the blood. That is problematic because it can have an adverse effect on the prosecutor's ability to convict this man.

Kelly and one of his three passengers, Officer Michael Downs, worked overtime at the Yankees-Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the Bronx and then drove back to Brooklyn. Kelly told cops he went to one bar, where he drank an unspecified amount. He then went to another, where he downed six to eight beers, police and other sources said. Sources said one of the bars was the Third & Seventh in Marine Park, where last night plainclothes officers were seen examining security footage.

Kelly refused to take a Breathalyzer test and, while reeking of booze and slurring his speech, told responding officers there was no way they were going to draw his blood. "I'm not going to let that happen," he said, one source briefed on the incident said. "You're going to have to tie me down." Kelly's obstinance, the source said, caused the first delay, and the Brooklyn district attorney's office was not notified until 1:54 a.m.

The next three hours went as planned, the source said, with investigators doing the required interviews. Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Joseph Gubbay granted the warrant about 5:30a.m., after prosecutors called him at home, the Office of Court Administration said. When Kelly, 30, arrived at Kings County Hospital at 5:52 a.m., he refused to consent to give blood. A doctor there mistakenly believed consent was necessary and would not draw blood, two sources said. After a flurry of phone calls involving Internal Affairs and prosecutors, Kelly's blood was taken about 8 a.m. - seven hours and 20 minutes after the accident. Source: NY Daily News

What happened to this woman was a disgrace and what is also troubling is the fact that it took seven hours and 20 minutes to draw his blood. He should be dismissed immediately from the police force. His friend Michael Downs, a four-year veteran from Brooklyn's 70th Precinct should also be terminated for leaving the scene of an accident. He claims a responding officer told him to leave the scene. If that's true, that officer should face departmental charges. This reeks of a cover-up on the part of the officers who were at the scene of the crime. These men are scum, as far as I am concerned. As the woman lay dying in the street, these men did not stop to help her, instead they fled. According to the NY Daily News, she was bleeding from her aorta and suffered multiple fractures.

UPDATE#1:  Why am I not surprised that the blood alcohol test found no booze in the system of an accused drunken cop charged with mowing down a preacher's daughter. We'll see how this case will be prosecuted and what the verdict will be. It is quite clear that the delay in doing the blood tests favored this officer. That's a shame.

Photo credits: Officer Kelly, Iudici for News & Vionique Valnord, Gabel for News