Officer Charged in Off-Duty OUI Crash

BOSTON, July 20, 2012—A Hyde Park man was arraigned on drunk driving and related charges today for a crash that left a young woman badly injured earlier this year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

RICHARD JEANETTI, 35, who is a Boston Police officer but was off-duty at the time of the collision, was arraigned in West Roxbury District Court on charges of operating under the influence causing serious bodily injury and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, as well as the civil infractions of failing to stop at a stop sign and speeding. Judge Franco Gobourne did not impose bail.

Evidence developed during the ongoing investigation suggests that the victim, a 21-year-old Hyde Park woman, was traveling on Austin Street and entering the West Street intersection at about 11:50 p.m. on the night of May 24 when Jeanetti’s 2007 Toyota Tundra collided with her vehicle.

Evidence further suggests that, at the time of the collision, Jeanetti was travelling on West Street well over 30 miles per hour, the speed limit for any roadway that without a posted speed limit, and sped through a stop sign at the Austin Street intersection.

Jeanetti’s vehicle caused massive damage to the victim’s 1995 Honda Accord. The impact broke one of her legs and fractured one of her vertebrae. After colliding with her car, the Tundra struck a second car, a 1996 Ford Taurus operated by a 20-year-old Hyde Park woman. She and her passenger were uninjured.

The victim was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Jeanetti, suffering from head injuries, was transported to Boston Medical Center. His vehicle was towed and seized.

Boston Police executed a search warrant on Jeanetti’s Tundra on June 1, recovering information from the data module or “black box” that the car had been travelling at speeds up to 68 miles per hour in the seconds before the collision. Prosecutors obtained Jeanetti’s medical records on June 8. Those records indicate Jeanetti’s blood alcohol level at the time of the collision was .27, more than three times the legal limit for operating a vehicle.

Jeanetti’s driver’s license has been suspended as a result of the evidence developed thus far. He is represented by attorney Thomas Drechsler. He will return to court on Sept. 11.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.