Thursday, December 22, 2011

Judge Arrested on DUI Charges

Police said they arrested Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Randal Todd on a charge of driving under the influence after witnessing a car accident.
A criminal court docket says the 56-year-old Todd was arrested Dec. 16. The incident happened on Shady Drive West.
According to the criminal complaint, a Mt. Lebanon police officer was stopped at a traffic light across from a vehicle that he noticed had been recently wrecked in the front, and then he watched that vehicle back into another one.
The officer blocked the car and confronted the driver, who was slurring his speech and smelled of alcohol and didn't know that the accident had just occurred, according to the complaint.
The officer had to reach inside the car and put it in park and help Todd out, and he said Todd admitted he was a little drunk, according to the complaint.
Todd was taken to a hospital to give a blood sample before being released to another person, the complaint said.
Todd's DUI charge will be mailed to him, along with a date for a preliminary hearing in front of District Judge Blaise Larotonda.
Mt. Lebanon police declined to comment about the case to Channel 4 Action News reporter Marcie Cipriani on Thursday afternoon.
President Judge Donna Jo McDaniel said Todd remains on the bench, but he will hear civil cases instead of criminal cases while his own case proceeds through the court system. That will prevent him from handling any cases involving DUI charges or the Mt. Lebanon police.
Nobody answered the door when Channel 4 Action News went to Todd's apartment on Thursday afternoon."

Read more: http://www.wtae.com/news/30055862/detail.html#ixzz1hIdYTRFG

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