FERNDALE, Wash. – A former Ferndale Police officer who caused a crash on Main Street has pleaded guilty to reckless driving and reported to the Whatcom County Jail last week.
William Hatchett was a Lieutenant with Ferndale Police and had been with the department since 1999.
The State Patrol reports that he was on duty on April 11, 2019 when his wife called and told him she had accidentally cut off a finger.
He turned on his emergency lights and siren and sped down Main Street in response, but collided with a car at the intersection with Joe Moser Lane.
The woman driving the car suffered life threatening injuries.
Hatchett faced a charge of vehicular assault in Whatcom Superior Court but the prosecutor dropped that after he pleaded guilty to a reckless driving charge in District Court.
He surrendered to serve his sentence at the Whatcom County Jail on December 6th.