A 54-year-old Caro man was sentenced yesterday after pleading no contest to two charges related to seriously injuring an on-duty Tuscola County Sheriff’s Deputy while drunk driving earlier in February.
Peter Timothy O’Brien pleaded no contest in May to a charge of operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and failing to use due care when passing a stationary emergency vehicle, both felonies. He was sentenced on Tuesday, June 25, to a minimum 40-month, maximum 60-month term in prison for the former count, and a minimum 130 days for the latter, with credit for 130 days served.
The charges stem from events that happened in Fremont Township on Friday, February 16, while Tuscola County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas Peterson was assisting another deputy with a disabled vehicle on M-24 near Blackmore Road.
Investigation revealed that around 7:45 p.m, O’Brien was traveling northbound on M-24 at a high rate of speed, when he struck two vehicles that were stopped on the shoulder of the road for the traffic stop. The crash catapulted O’Brien’s vehicle over the two stopped vehicles before striking Deputy Peterson.
Peterson was thrown into a ditch and suffered leg and ankle fractures, as well as other injuries. He has since recovered.
