Alcohol Ruled Out in Bishop’s Accident

Bishop Thomas O’Brien, the former head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, was not impaired by alcohol at the time of a fatal hit-and-run accident, prosecutors said.

Several witnesses suggested that O’Brien may have been drinking on the night of June 14, but the Maricopa County attorney’s office said the investigation has turned up no credible evidence.

O’Brien faces one count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Pedestrian Jim Reed, 43, was killed after allegedly being hit by O’Brien’s car. The bishop has said he didn’t realize he struck a person.

O’Brien, who resigned as bishop, was freed from jail on $45,000 bond.