Posted on 05/24/2011 3:09:19 PM PDT by Fitzy_888
BROADALBIN -- A car driven by an off-duty state trooper likely hit a Northville man who was found dead in the road, and the victim had a previous DWI conviction for striking a teenage girl, authorities said.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office said the trooper, Brian Beardsley, 32, was driving with his girlfriend on county Highway 110 around 2:41 a.m. Sunday when he struck Chad E. Finch, 29, of South Shore Road.
Deputies say the original call to police was made by an unidentified woman who reported that she saw what appeared to be a body in the southbound lane of the 1200 block of Highway 110.
When police arrived at the scene, they said, the caller was not there. An investigation revealed that the cellphone caller was Beardsley's girlfriend, and that they were in the vehicle that likely struck Finch, deputies said. When deputies located Beardsley and went to Amsterdam to inspect the vehicle about an hour later, the car appeared to have been involved in an accident.
An autopsy was performed Monday at Albany Medical Center Hospital.
(...)
Fulton County Undersheriff Kevin Lenahan said it's unclear whether alcohol was involved in the accident. Finch apparently was walking home from a restaurant on the dark roadway. Beardsley has not been charged or ticketed. The investigation is continuing.
In 2000, Finch was convicted of driving while ability impaired after he hit a 14-year-old girl in Amsterdam as she crossed the street on her bike. Finch was arrested for DWI in 2003 and again for felony DWI in 2004 for veering across traffic and crashing into a car in Gloversville. The 2004 accident injured an 11-year-old girl who was a passenger in the other car. Finch pleaded guilty to felony DWI in August 2004 and was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison. He was released in 2006.
Finch was the father of a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl.
In a another strange twist, it appears Beardsley was dragged by a car in December 2008 while attempting to stop a drunken driver.
At that time, an account in The Leader-Herald of Gloversville said Beardsley was directing traffic on Route 29 in Mayfield when he stopped a speeding car. When Beardsley determined the driver had been drinking, he reached in to turn off the ignition and the driver took off, dragging Beardsley 25 feet. He was treated for a shoulder injury.
State Police spokeswoman Trooper Maureen Tuffey said Beardsley's work status has not changed in relation to the investigation of Sunday's accident.
CBS 6 News - May 24, 2011
UPDATE 5:04 P.M. -- According to the Fulton County Sheriff, Trooper Brian Beardsley has been arrested in connection with the death of a man on a Fulton County highway early Sunday morning.
The Sheriff said the victim, Chad Finch, was alive when Beardsley car hit him.
He has been charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Beardsley is currently at a court appearance for the charges.
This story is developing...
WTF does the criminal history of the PEDESTRIAN HIT AND KILLED IN A HIT & RUN BY AN OFF-DUTY COP have to do with anything?
Is this supposed to be something like instant karma?
>>>WTF does the criminal history of the PEDESTRIAN HIT AND KILLED IN A HIT & RUN BY AN OFF-DUTY COP have to do with anything?
Nothing - but it does expose a juicy bit of irony that the guy got done unto him as he had done onto another...
Huh - all I see are two lives ruined...
Instant Karma’s gonna get you,
Gonna knock you off your feet,
Better recognize your brothers,
Ev’ryone you meet
Smart to be charged with leaving the scene of an accident rather than negligent homicide, or worse.
So a drunk cop hits a former drunk and runs, sounds normal.
Irony I guess
Irony perhaps, double-standard is the more glowing term.
Not sure I follow I thought I read where the cop has been arrested.
We have been edumacated about the deceased’s own problems with drinking. Let’s get some background on the officer who hit and ran, maybe.
The talking point is that “it’s never the first time they’ve done this (driven drunk)”. Should be the talking point for all drivers then, not just civilians.
My theory is that Trooper Beardsley was at a cop bar with his girlfriend and his fellow troopers and their wives/girlfriends. He will lie that he wasn't drinking or that he only had "two beers" and his fellow cops will lie that they only saw him have two beers or that they don't recall seeing him drink at all. The bartender who knows very well that Trooper Beardsley and the other troopers were blotto that night, will deny Beardsley was drunk or that any cop ever gets drunk during her shift, if only because the cops are her biggest customers and tip her well. In addition, if she admits serving alcohol to drunk cops, the very drunk cops that she served alcohol to might arrest her for serving an intoxicated person in violation of state liquor laws. Lastly, the bar owner will soon discover that the CCTV surveillance camera that should conclusively prove that Beardsley and the other troopers were a sober as a Baptist preacher on Easter morning, was broken that evening even though it worked fine the night before and the night after the incident.
Please note that this is just a theory that may or may not prove true in whole or in part. My theory is based upon solely upon conjecture and my experiences many, many years ago as a bartender at a cop bar in upstate NY, where I learned that cops are mean nasty drunks, who routinely drive with BALs well in excess of what would land anyone else in jail, and they will lie through their teeth to protect their own and to make an arrest stick.
Well, we can hope it was over quickly. As while that troopers was supposedly playing peek-ah-boo with the eye test with his co-workers, almost two hours after the incident, the remains of the victim were still dripping from the bottom of the trooper’s pick-up truck.
And then…along comes the snarky A-hole at the Albany Times Union, the local newspaper, no doubt looking to do his best to maintain whatever connections they have…you know they don’t even leave the office these days.
What happened and the article above are both a disgrace.
Well .. I suppose that it would have been tough .. walking around already dead!?
Apparently, we need the information to make certain that this was a properly sanctioned government action to thin the herd.
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