Traverse City Record-Eagle

March 12, 2010

Investigation of crash may lead to charges

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY

TRAVERSE CITY -- An investigation into an off-duty police officer's crash and subsequent car fire could land on the county prosecutor's desk next week.

And a sheriff's department probe of its deputies' handling of the officer's crash inches toward completion, department officials said.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider must determine whether to charge Traverse City officer Joseph Soffredine with a variety of offenses that could include drunken driving, county sheriff's officials said.

"If the investigation reveals enough information, he could face anything from expired plates, violating speed laws, reckless driving; and if Al believes there was sufficient information to show he was intoxicated, he could charge him with drunk driving," Undersheriff Nathan Alger said.

Soffredine, 38, ran his Dodge Durango off Cedar Run Road in Garfield Township at about 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 7. He subsequently overheated and ignited his vehicle by continually revving the accelerator in an attempt to free himself.

City police on Thursday suspended Soffredine without pay for an undisclosed period after investigating a separate incident that occurred earlier that evening.

Soffredine was involved in a dispute inside the House of Doggs restaurant in Traverse City late Feb. 6. Chief Mike Warren said Soffredine had been drinking alcohol but does not know if he was intoxicated.

Deputy Robert Sillers, a five-year veteran of the sheriff's department, and Deputy Mark Noffke, who completed a one-year probationary period in August, handled Soffredine's eventual crash on Cedar Run.

Sillers and Noffke failed to cite Soffredine for driving with license plates that expired more than six months earlier, and also didn't administer field sobriety or preliminary breath tests to determine if he was intoxicated.

The deputies said icy roads caused the crash, but reports from witnesses and the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department said the road was clear.

Alger this week completed an internal investigation of the officers' handling of the crash and sent copies to Schneider and Sheriff Tom Bensley.

Neither expects to review the report before Monday. A decision on disciplinary action against the deputies may have to wait until April because of scheduling conflicts, Bensley said.

The sheriff's department must hold a hearing with the deputies, at which time they'd be alerted to the findings and given a chance to respond.

Alger said it's unlikely a hearing will be scheduled before April because of training and vacation schedules.

"It's just timing. If the incident had occurred a month earlier we'd be done by now," Bensley said. "We are going forward with the traffic violations and I expect something will come of that, but I can't tell you what."