Impairment at issue in trial over officer's traffic death

By Bonnie L. Cook

Inquirer Staff Writer

The Levittown man whose car allegedly slammed into a parked police car, causing the cruiser to fatally run over Officer Christopher Jones as he returned to it during a traffic stop, was "impaired," witnesses said yesterday.

A paramedic and a police traffic investigator testified in a Bucks County courtroom that suspect Frank Wallace Budka Jr. behaved oddly right after the accident Jan. 29 on Route 1 in Middletown Township.

Jones, 37, a Middletown patrolman and married father of three, suffered a skull fracture and multiple fractures of the left leg when he became wedged under his cruiser at 10:40 a.m.

The cruiser was lifted off the patrolman, and Jones was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he died of multiple injuries at 12:28 p.m., trauma surgeon Burt Blackstone testified.

Budka, 45, went on trial yesterday in Common Pleas Court before Judge Albert J. Cepparulo. Both sides agreed on a bench trial. Testimony is expected to conclude today.

Fellow Officer Michael W. Lubold, accident reconstructionist for the Middletown police force, said Budka's eyes were "red and glassy" and he was incoherent while fiddling with the lid of a Snapple bottle when interviewed by first responders.

"When asked a question, he would stare, mumbling. The whole time, he was moving his hands and fumbling with the bottle," Lubold testified.

Budka is charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance. The felony charge carries a mandatory sentence of three to 10 years in prison.

Budka pleaded guilty during the proceeding to numerous other charges relating to the accident, the judge said.

Court records have alleged that Budka was high on methadone, marijuana, opiates and benzoylecgonine, a substance related to cocaine use.

Paramedic Jay Colella Jr. testified that he interviewed Budka before the suspect was transported to the hospital. Budka slurred his speech, Colella said.

"He said he usually does marijuana, but he did not get to it that day," Colella testified.

Asked to characterize Budka's behavior by Deputy District Attorney Robert James, Colella said, "I believe he was under the influence of something."

Defense attorney Barnaby C. Wittels chipped away at Colella's take on Budka's behavior by getting Colella to admit that in 23 years of experience, he had seen many other "confused, disoriented" people after accidents.

"What made the defendant different from the others?" Barnaby asked.

"His answers to us," Colella replied, "his stare. He would repeat himself multiple times." Colella said Budka's blood sugar was normal, and Budka was not drunk and had not suffered head trauma.

When James elicited testimony from Colella that Budka was too impaired to operate a car safely that day, Wittels objected. Cepparulo stepped in, saying Colella had ruled out the other possibilities as cause of Budka's confusion and disorientation, and so could conclude that a controlled substance would likely be responsible.

Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or bcook@phillynews.com.

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