PHILADELPHIA — An off-duty Philadelphia police officer is accused of driving while drunk and crashing his car into a house, critically injuring a woman when she was pinned under his vehicle, authorities said.
Gregory Campbell, 27, was charged with driving under the influence, aggravated assault and criminal mischief, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He was released on bail on the condition that he refrain from drinking or driving, according to the newspaper.
According to authorities, Campbell was driving in Northeast Philadelphia around 8:20 p.m. Saturday and lost control of his vehicle, WCAU reported. The car, which police estimated was traveling at 70 mph, slammed into a house, Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said. The street has a 30 mph speed limit, the Inquirer reported.
After crashing into the building, Campbell’s vehicle struck a 53-year-old woman. The mother of three was “dragged and pinned” under Campbell’s car and was hospitalized in critical condition, according to a criminal complaint. Her 45-year-old husband required medical treatment for less severe injuries to his arm, hand, hip, leg and back, the Inquirer reported.
One of the couple’s two dogs was killed, WPVI reported.
Campbell was hospitalized for a laceration to the head, the television station reported.
“I was in the kitchen and I heard what sounded like an explosion,” Martin Brown, who lives two doors from the couple, told WPVI.
Brown said a bystander, who had pulled over, stayed with the driver while he tried to help the couple inside.
”(The man) was screaming that his wife was stuck underneath of the car and that he needed to move the car in order to get to her,” Brown told WPVI.
The two men dug through the rubble to find the woman, the television station reported.
“The fact that the offender, in this case, is a Philadelphia police officer is appalling,” Outlaw said in a statement. “Police Officers must be held to a higher standard -- even while off-duty -- and I assure the victims and the public that a complete and thorough investigation will take place.”
The identities of the injured couple have not been released, KYW reported.