Personal Injury Blog

Trainee Police Officer Arrested in Denair Car Accident

October 21st, 2008

A Stockton police trainee has been arrested for drunk driving after causing a car accident in which one of his passengers died.

It’s not often we get to report on a police officer in the making, one just near permanent status, and his drunk behavior that has now resulted in a fatality. 27-year-old Ryan Honnette was in the training program that is conducted before a graduate of the police academy is allowed to join full service. On Saturday, Honnette was driving a 2000 Ford Excursion, with four other passengers. It was about 5 pm. The Modesto Bee reports that Honnette was doing 40 miles per hour as he neared the highway 132 – Lake junction. He lost control of the vehicle and drifted over to the west shoulder of the lane. As he attempted to steer the vehicle back on course, he overcorrected. The SUV rolled over, throwing 25-year-old Turlock resident Matthew Miller out of the back seat window. He was rushed to Oak Valley Hospital where he was declared dead a little while later.

Another passenger in the SUV, Blake Gonzales also suffered injuries in the car accident. The other two passengers in the SUV suffered no injuries. Honnette was not injured either.

Honnette has now been arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. The man had already completed several months of his 18-month training program, and was due to finish soon. As of now, he has been placed on paid administrative leave, as the department waits for results of an investigation into the drunk driving accident.

It’s clear that this young man has placed his career in jeopardy, because of his own negligent behavior. Honnette has no one but himself to blame, as he waits for results of the investigation to be released. There’s something perverse about a responsible, almost-uniformed police officer, displaying such unacceptable behavior. As a police academy graduate, Honnette, no doubt, had access to training that focused on dealing with drunken driving accidents. It’s absurd to think that that this 27-year-old could have undergone years of academic training to be an officer, and missed out on all those lessons learned. For a regular Joe to be driving drunk is bad enough, but when it’s a police officer, even if it’s a trainee, you have to be outraged.

If Honnette is found guilty, he might have to kiss any police career he had hoped for, goodbye. Many of the drunk driving victims we have covered in this California car accident attorney blog probably wouldn’t believe he should be on the force anyway.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accident and drunk driving accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

Posted by Robert Reeves at 3:38 pm: No comments

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