They say there two sides to every story. That is certainly the case in the tale of a 29-year-old Navy petty officer charged recently with driving drunk and causing fatal injuries to a Virginia man in a car accident.
The 50-year-old pedestrian was hit and killed by a Jeep about 230 miles southeast of Leesburg, the Stars and Stripes reported.
There is another aspect to the story out of Virginia Beach, however: the petty officer is reportedly undergoing cancer treatments and has had a double lung transplant. He wore a blue surgical mask in a video arraignment on a charge of involuntary manslaughter and DUI.
In fact, he was scheduled to receive a lung biopsy today, according to his sister.
The accident this past weekend reportedly took place at about 9:20 p.m. The man killed was struck as he crossed a street.
The Navy has yet to take any action against the petty officer, saying it is “tracking the case.”
The petty officer has been in the military for five years, but is now on limited duty at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center while being treated.
According to the father of the man killed, his son had at times been homeless, but had also held carpentry jobs and jobs in construction.
The petty officer faces a couple of obvious threats to his future: criminal charges and his illness.
Anyone who faces these kinds of serious allegations should decline to speak with prosecutors or police investigators before discussing the circumstances and evidence with an experienced criminal defense attorney.
Source: Stars and Stripes, “Navy petty officer who hit Va. Beach pedestrian faces DUI charge,” Elisabeth Hulette and Margaret Matray, May 7, 2014