CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES
A Los Angeles Police Department officer accused of driving drunk and hitting two pedestrians with his Hummer before fleeing the scene in Santa Clarita pleaded not guilty Thursday, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.
William Skett, 34, pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence and causing injury, driving with a 0.08% blood-alcohol level and leaving the scene, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Natalie Adomian.
Skett, an eight-year veteran, was assigned to the elite Metropolitan Division at the time of the June 2008 incident. He allegedly struck 62-year-old Susan Sim and a 65-year-old man as he was backing up in a Saugus parking lot.
Prosecutors say Skett got out of his SUV, saw the victims lying injured on the ground and fled.
Sim suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung. The man suffered minor cuts and bruises. If convicted, Skett could face up to seven years and eight months in state prison.
-- Ruben Vives
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