Off-duty officer charged with DUI after attending benefit

A veteran Philadelphia police officer was arrested on drunken-driving charges from allegedly hitting a stopped police cruiser after attending a benefit Thursday night for a wounded colleague.

Natalie Crone, 46, a community relations officer in Northeast Philadelphia's Eighth District, also was charged with simple assault and recklessly endangering another person, court records show. The crash occurred around midnight.

Earlier that night, the 21-year veteran had attended a fund-raiser at Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 headquarters in the Far Northeast for Officer Jesse Hartnett, who is recovering after a gunman ambushed him in his patrol car last month in West Philadelphia.

On Monday night, Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Crone had been placed on restricted duty, "which means her weapon was taken and she is not to take police action."

He said that she would be disciplined, and that he was waiting for charges from the District Attorney's Office before proceeding.

John McNesby, the union's president, said he was aware of the arrest but did not know details.

He said "a handful" of officers get arrested every year for drunken driving. Most go through Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, a diversionary court program for first-time offenders, and are demoted to civilian duties until they complete the ARD requirements. Afterward, they can return to police work. But ARD isn't typically offered in incidents involving assault or injury.

Crone is accused of hitting a cruiser parked for a car stop shortly after midnight on Algon Avenue, according to a source familiar with the incident. The officer in that car was taken to Jeanes Hospital for a back injury, the source said.

Crone was released without bail pending a March 1 status hearing, court records show. The court records did not list an attorney for Crone.