City Cop Accused of Drunken Driving, Suspended

A Bethlehem police officer is accused of drunken driving as a result of a blood-alcohol test that showed he had twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood when he crashed his personal car near the North Side downtown last week, police said.

Officer Richard M. Hoffman is on paid administrative suspension pending the outcome of the charges against him, said Bethlehem Police Chief Jason Schiffer. Police are also conducting an internal investigation into the matter, Schiffer said.

The crash occurred a little after 3 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 8, police said. Hoffman, who was off-duty, was driving east on E. Broad Street near High Street when he crashed into a legally parked vehicle, police said. Two other parked vehicles were also damaged.

Hoffman was not injured in the crash, but he was taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill for evaluation, Schiffer said. A blood- alcohol test showed Hoffman’s level to be .16 percent—twice Pennsylvania’s legal limit to drive.

Charges will be filed at the office of District Judge Roy Manwaring, Schiffer said.

According to The Morning Call, Hoffman was suspended without pay in 2011 after an arrested city man was able to sneak a gun through police and then guard searches at Northampton County Prison.

Christian L. Neith dropped the gun behind a filing cabinet at the prison on Dec. 29, 2010, but the gun was not found until Jan. 5, causing a prison lockdown.

Hoffman was present during the arrest and search of Neith that did not turn up the gun, which was hidden in his waistband, according to the newspaper.