US bishop arrested over fatal hit-and-run

THE Roman Catholic bishop charged with striking a jaywalking pedestrian with his car and then driving away told police he thought he had hit a dog or a cat, or that someone had thrown a rock at his vehicle.

Bishop Thomas O’Brien, 67, was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

He was released late on Monday on a $45,000 bond.

The accident occurred on Saturday night, when 43-year-old Jim Reed was struck by two cars while walking across a street in the middle of the block about three miles from the bishop’s home. Both cars drove away.

Police traced a licence plate number to Bishop O’Brien’s car and found the windscreen caved in. His attorney, Jordan Green, declined to comment.

Sgt Randy Force said Bishop O’Brien wasn’t being charged with causing the crash because Mr Reed was jaywalking.

“If the bishop had remained at the scene, in all likelihood he would not have been charged with any crime,” Mr Force said.

Bishop O’Brien’s arrest came two weeks after prosecutors announced that he was relinquishing some of his authority, in an unprecedented agreement which spared him from indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation.