Philly cop expected to be fired after crashing into a home at 70 mph while drunk, injuring couple, killing dog
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw plans to to fire officer Gregory Campbell who allegedly crashed his car into a Northeast Philadelphia home at 70 mph over the weekend.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said Wednesday that she intended to fire an officer who allegedly crashed his car into a Northeast Philadelphia home while intoxicated over the weekend, injuring a couple as they lay on their couch and killing one of their dogs.
Officer Gregory Campbell, 27, a two-year member of the department who worked in the 14th District in Germantown, has been suspended for 30 days with the intent to dismiss.
He is facing charges that include DUI, aggravated assault, and criminal mischief.
Police say Campbell, while off duty, had been traveling at least 70 mph in his Dodge Dart before crashing into the home on Comly Road around 8:20 p.m. Saturday. He had previously been at the 7C Lounge, a bar and restaurant inside the headquarters of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, which is just up the street from the home.
A 53-year-old woman, a mother of three, was “dragged and pinned” under Campbell’s car and was hospitalized in critical condition with injuries that included two broken legs and a collapsed lung, according to the criminal complaint. Her 45-year-old husband sustained injuries to his arm, hand, hip, leg, and back. One of their dogs was killed and another was injured.
Outlaw has promised a full investigation and said she found the case “appalling.”
“A family should always feel safe in their home, and yet the actions of this individual shattered that reality,” she said in a statement Sunday.
FOP president John McNesby did not reply Wednesday when asked if the union would represent Campbell.
Law enforcement sources told The Inquirer that Campbell is believed to have attended a beef and beer fund-raiser that was held from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Crispin Tavern, located about five miles away, for the family of James O’Connor IV, a police corporal who was fatally shot while serving an arrest warrant in Frankford last year.
Campbell’s attorney, Steven Patton, declined to comment on the case Wednesday. He said Campbell’s “thoughts at this time are with the victims and their family.”