Drunk bishop kills bike enthusiast in hit-and-run
 

Maryland's first female Episcopal bishop killed custom bicycle maker in hit-and-run.

Awful picture--"Half the vehicle's windshield and hood bear deep, fractured inden[ta]tions from Palermo's body."


*Edit: No evidence so far that she was drunk at the time of the accident--title "drunk" is without evidence. Sorry for the confusion.

**Edit: Turns out she was drunk: "Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said that Cook's breath alcohol level was 0.22 percent, nearly triple the legal limit in Maryland, and that she was text-messaging at the time of the collision."

Stories like this............
 

.....make me furious.

A man is dying in the street, and the driver bolts!

Regardless of how the accident (?) occurred, fleeing the scene should be an automatic multiple year prison sentence when a fatality or serious injury results, and a lessor sentence for less serious incidents, to run consecutively with or without any penalty relating to causal factors.

Fleeing of and in itself is a crime and needs to be punished regardless of fault.

But looking further, her previous DUI event is also telling. What the heck is "Cook received 'probation without judgement' for the DUI charge?"
I think this is called prior bad acts, and maybe if she received a signifcant penalty in that case, this incident may not have happened.

Unfortunately I suspect the penalty, if any, with be a fine or license suspension

A doggone shame. That she was impaired this time is still being investigated; however the prior arrest seems to indicate the long term behavior problem. The location is on a long double-lane straight road with door-zone bike lane.

It also seems the vetting process for spiritual leaders is somewhat deficient.

Such a sad story. I hate seeing news like this.

If she had killed the man with a *** she would be in jail, so why not since she used a car?

And we're surprised because???

Drunk driving has always been treated as a "social transgression" rather than a real crime - even when catastrophes result from it. Until society recognizes the victim(s) of drunk driving for what they ARE (murder victims), nothing will change.

The OP's article is the first I have seen with pictures of the car and the bicycle. Wow!

She was ordained as the first female bishop of the Episcopal church in September. Even after a previous drunk driving 'incident' in 2010. Then she 'splits' from the scene. She needs to be removed from the clergy before she kills one of her own parishioners. The Catholic church wasn't the only one hiding the transgressions of their priests. Now the Episcopal church is doing it too.

I am a Christian but, she needs to be removed from the clergy. She is a 'repeat offender'.

^ +1,000 on that. What kind of "Christian", much less a clergy person, would leave a person to die in the road as she did?

Wow, just WOW!

I'd put 3-to-1 odds that she sees penalties no worse than a fine and/or suspension of license.

An intoxicated one. Alcohol impacts all judgements. Drunks who wouldn't otherwise have left the scene will do so when intoxicated. They're incapable of thinking clearly. I'm not excusing the behavior, but I fully understand it. Alcoholism has a tendency to trump one's other beliefs, no matter how deeply and sincerely they are held.

Throw her a$$ in jail and keep her there for 20 years!
Bishop? Who gives a damn!
Being religious/clergy does not give you extra right/power.
Besides she is a repeat offender . . . throw the 'book' at her.

Agreed, she played her clergy card the previous time ---- now she has to atone for her sins (should have happened last time too).

Wow, perhaps most of you, like me, didn't pay attention to the video clip attached to the article 'Hit and run pastor' delivers eerily prescient sermon", but I just watched. She said in the sermon (toward the end of the video):

"And if we routinely drive 55 in a 30 miles/hr zone, we won't be able to stop on a dime if driving conditions get dangerous, or if an animal or--God forbidden--a human being should step out in front of us."

***P.S. I hope to keep this thread from being moved over to P&R forum, so please cooperate, thanks.

if you want to discuss the religion of the perp and the role of religion in this murder, please start a new thread in PnR, thanks

YES, let's stay on topic.

Wonder if the rider was in the bike lane or out. The bent seat stays and rear wheel along with the window impact was most likely from a total rear ender maybe 2/3 feet in from passenger side of car.

Slam the cell door shut and throw away the keys. Will not happen again.

Sucks. Met Tom once,I've got two or three friends who had frames made by him,and another that took a frame building class from him.

Your car gets damaged like that,you know you hit something. No excuse to leave. Local blogs are saying that she returned because she may have been chased down by other riders. She def needs some jail time. She can do her ministrations to the other inmates.

Exactly!!!!

Not just that. It seems drunk priests' are allowed to 'do it all over again'.

For me, it isn't the religion. It is that she is a repeat offender. She should not be in a position of responsibility within the church.

As a Christian myself, I am deeply, deeply offended by this hit-and-runner. She should be stripped of the title. Whoever elected her as bishop should be ashamed of themselves.

The thing here that really ticks me off is the idiotic idea that alcoholism is a disease, that is simply BS. If it is a disease, show me the germ or the virus. Alcoholism is simply the lack of personal responsibility.

To go easy on this Bishop (the church doesnt matter) is totally out of line, especially since this is the second offense.

There are many congenital diseases.

Update from yesterday with more info from the scene: Md. Bishop Who Admitted To Striking Biker Has DUI Record « CBS Baltimore

My heart goes out to Tom's family and friends.

Well, that's pretty simplistic. That logic would indicate that congenital conditions and mental problem and all other problems that aren't caused by pathogens (maybe chemical imbalances) aren't diseases either.

Alcoholism is best treated as a disease, but one that has no cure, only remediation. And like some things such as uncontrollable epilepsy, it may be that part of the remediation is that the person is never allowed to drive again.

However, unlike most diseases, the symptoms can be entirely removed by not having access to alcohol. Maybe the AMA should be using their political leverage to get it on the prescription-only lists; unrestricted access to it certainly causes more real problems than have been seen in the countries where, for example, contact lenses can be bought OTC.