911 Calls from crash involving Racine County District Attorney

Racine-- For the first time we are hearing the 911 calls made after the Racine County District Attorney was involved in a OWI, hit & run crash late Friday night.  Three of the six people who called 911 said they saw D.A. Rich Chiapete running from the scene after taking out a traffic signal and hitting a tree with his car.

 


Caller 1:  \"There's a car that just crashed into a light pole and a tree in front of my home.\"  Dispatcher:  \"Which way did you see the person leaving.?\"  Caller: \"Going north on Main.  I thought he was just going down to look at the car.  My husband was in the upstairs window and saw him run.\"  Caller 2:   \"We asked him is he was okay and he said I'm okay, I'm okay, and he got out of the car and ran.\"    Caller 3:  \"The last I seen the driver had vacated the car and was running north on Main Street.\"



Racine Deputy City Attorney Scott Letteney says a preliminary breath test showed Chiapete's blood alcohol level was .159, nearly twice the legal limit.  Letteney said Chiapete agreed to have blood drawn at the hospital, but refused once he arrived more than an hour after his arrest.


Chiapete has apologized and remains on the job.  He was cited for first offense OWI and hit & run.

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