Was a cop protected?

Tribune:

For the second time in just over a month, an off-duty Chicago cop has been arrested in a fatal crash involving alcohol, raising troubling questions again about the treatment of cops who drink too much and drive.

Richard Bolling, 39, is accused of striking and killing 13-year-old Trenton Booker at about 1:30 a.m. on May 22 at the corner of Ashland Avenue and 81st Street, then speeding away in his Dodge Charger. Trenton had sneaked out of his house and was riding his bike with friends. He was left broken and bleeding on the street.

Cops found Bolling about five blocks away driving the wrong way down a one-way street. They noticed that Bolling smelled of alcohol, had an open beer bottle and the front of his car was damaged. Bolling allegedly had been in a South Side bar for a couple of hours earlier that evening. He initially refused a Breathalyzer test, as was his right. Bolling's supervisors compelled him to submit to the Breathalyzer four hours later and eight hours after that his blood was drawn. The Breathalyzer showed his blood alcohol level to be at 0.079, just below the legal limit of 0.08.

Yes, that's a long, long time after he was picked up.

Prosecutors insist that the delay won't hurt their case because experts can estimate the blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash. But the Tribune reported Wednesday that in a recent case a judge initially threw out a DUI charge against another Chicago cop, John Ardelean, because the judge said that expert analysis could be wrong. So, the delay could be an issue.

 Read the whole thing! This story has been in the news for a while. I want to stress that I'm not posting this to be anti-police.