Officer Indicted in Off-Duty Crash that Left Woman Badly Injured

BOSTON, Oct. 26, 2012—The Suffolk County Grand Jury today returned an indictment charging a Boston Police officer with crashing into another car while driving drunk off-duty, leaving the other driver severely injured, District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced.

The indictment moves the case against RICHARD JEANETTI (D.O.B. 8/27/76) of Hyde Park from West Roxbury District Court, where he was initially charged with the May 24 collision, to Suffolk Superior Court, where the case will ultimately be adjudicated. The offense carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a mandatory two-year driver’s license revocation upon conviction.

Evidence developed in the course of the 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 detectives executed a search warrant on Jeanetti’s Tundra, 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. Separately, prosecutors obtained Jeanetti’s medical records, which indicated that 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 is represented by attorney Thomas Drechsler. His arraignment in Superior Court has been scheduled for Nov. 7.

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