Man pleads guilty in hit-and-run that killed off-duty Philly cop

Louis J. Vogwill wasn't drunk, as police first said, when he crashed his car into a motorcycle being driven by off-duty Philadelphia Police Officer Lamar Poole Sr. in August 2015. But the sight of Poole's near-lifeless, crumpled body on the Oxford Circle street frightened Vogwill so much, his lawyer said, that he got back in his car and drove away.

Poole, 42, an 18-year veteran of the force assigned to the 12th District, died of his injuries within an hour of the crash, leaving behind a wife and seven children.

Vogwill, who had been employed as a pizza deliveryman, was stopped by a tow-truck driver a few blocks from the crash scene and was jailed after being charged with crimes including homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, which carries a mandatory term of three to six years in prison. The DUI charges were dropped in February 2016 and Vogwill was released from jail on bail after blood tests showed he was not drunk nor on drugs at the time of the crash.

On Thursday, Vogwill, 61, pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and was sentenced to time served and five years of probation, during which he cannot drive.

The guilty plea required him to take responsibility for being at fault for the Aug. 30, 2015, accident. Vogwill was traveling west on Devereaux Avenue, tried to make a left turn onto Roosevelt Boulevard, and hit Poole as the officer crossed the Boulevard, police said.

During Thursday's hearing, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore asked Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara McDermott to sentence Vogwill to one to two years in jail. "He was reckless in the way he turned. He killed somebody and he left the scene of the accident," she said in an interview.

Michael J. Engle, Vogwill's attorney, said his client had no criminal record and simply "freaked out" at the accident scene.

"He saw Officer Poole lying there on the ground, and the nature of the accident was such that it was a gruesome scene," he said. "The reality is, had he not left the scene, he might not have been charged with a crime whatsoever."

The attorneys told the judge that Vogwill has mental health issues and lives in a homeless shelter.

About a half-dozen police officers attended the hearing along with Poole's wife, daughter and parents-in-law, each of whom gave powerful and moving victim statements, according to the lawyers.

In a statement, Vogwill, a divorced father of two adult children, expressed remorse and tried to communicate that he appreciated how difficult it has been for the officer's family, and that no matter how hard his own circumstances are, they do not compare to their loss, Engle said.