Toxicology report shows victim in deadly Warren police crash was intoxicated

CBS Detroit’s Warren, Mich. locationFollowing the publication of the Macomb County Medical Examiner’s autopsy and toxicology findings, the lawyer representing the families of Cedric Hayden Jr., 34, and Dejuan Pettis, 33, is retaliating.

According to the report, Hayden Jr., the driver, had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

The criminal and civil actions brought in connection with the officer-involved crash that killed Hayden Jr. and Pettis on September 30 are unaffected by the findings, according to attorney James Harrington of Fieger Law.

According to Harrington, “this is another form of victim shaming,”

When his police cruiser collided with the SUV carrying Hayden Jr. and Pettis, Warren Police Officer James Burke was reportedly traveling at over 100 mph while following a suspect without using his sirens or flashers.

“The fact that Officer Burke was breaching the law has nothing to do with this release of whatever it is. “He never turned on his lights as required by law, and he was speeding,” Harrington added.

Burke was accused of two counts of manslaughter late last month. Harrington claimed that his legal team had not been given access to this autopsy report because Fieger Law had filed two other $100 million civil cases against the Warren Police Department.

“I informed everyone that we have been requesting these records from everyone. We called the Macomb County Medical Examiners Office after requesting all of the information for more than eight weeks, and they told us that the reports were not yet available,” he stated.

Regarding Hayden Jr.’s intoxication, Harrington stated that it shouldn’t have any bearing on Burke’s criminal charges or the civil lawsuit.

“We’re moving full speed forward. This has no bearing whatsoever on the case. This has no bearing whatsoever on it since the officer’s actions are indisputable,” Harrington stated.

The toxicology analysis has no bearing on the state’s decision to prosecute Burke with a crime, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.

Detroit is where Gino Vicci was born and reared. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications Magna Cum Laude from Rochester College. He earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

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