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American Morning

Bishop Arrested in Fatal Hit and Run

Aired June 17, 2003 - 08:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, ANCHOR: To Phoenix now, Bishop Thomas O'Brien, head of the Roman Catholic diocese there, is free today after posting a $45,000 bond last night.
Bishop O'Brien, arrested on Monday, appeared in court on Monday, charged with leaving the scene of a fatal hit and run accident Saturday night about 8:30 p.m. local time.

All this comes just two weeks after O'Brien cut a deal to avoid prosecution for allegedly covering up sex abuse by priests in Arizona.

Jayme West, a reporter for KTAR radio, is our guest now in Phoenix.

Good morning to you and thanks for getting up early with us. What's been the reaction so far with this story breaking there in Phoenix last evening?

JAYME WEST, REPORTER, KTAR RADIO: Shock. I would say that's the one word that would describe the reaction. What else could possibly happen to this man?

HEMMER: What's been the reaction about the story or the statement given about a dog or a cat or possibly a rock hitting his car?

WEST: Well, listening to callers into our station yesterday, a lot of people are just not buying it. When you talk about a 6-foot tall, 235-pound man hitting your wind she would, as opposed to a rock or a cat or a dog, there's obviously going to be a big difference.

HEMMER: As a Catholic myself, the news has been nothing but negative in recent weeks. Going back to the deal that was cut with prosecutors how has -- how has this bishop been viewed in that community?

WEST: Well, I talked to parishioners the day that the agreement was announced, the agreement in which he avoided, actually got immunity from prosecution on obstruction of justice charges.

Now that is because he did acknowledge that he allowed priests to work with minors even though they had been accused of sexual abuse. Also transferring priests accused of sexual abuse into parishes without letting their supervisors know of the allegations. Talking to parishioners, they seemed very supportive on the church, but really didn't want to comment too much on the bishop himself. HEMMER: Also, Jayme, there's a report out there that say the police tried to get in touch with him either Saturday night or Sunday and their phone calms were not returned. Is that fact?

WEST: That's correct. I just spoke with the police sergeant here at police headquarters. They tell me they did contact the archdiocese. The monsignor actually called the bishop's home to give the bishop the message that police would like to speak with him. That was on Sunday. The bishop never called.

In fact, from what we understand, he made arrangements to get his windshield fixed yesterday, and the first time they spoke with him was when they knocked on his door yesterday.

HEMMER: We should point out that he did drive that car on Sunday, took it to mass and also took it to visit his sister, who's living in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is not too far from where this accident took place in northwestern Phoenix.

Jayme West, reporter, KTAR there in Phoenix. Thanks for talking with us there.

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Aired June 17, 2003 - 08:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, ANCHOR: To Phoenix now, Bishop Thomas O'Brien, head of the Roman Catholic diocese there, is free today after posting a $45,000 bond last night.
Bishop O'Brien, arrested on Monday, appeared in court on Monday, charged with leaving the scene of a fatal hit and run accident Saturday night about 8:30 p.m. local time.

All this comes just two weeks after O'Brien cut a deal to avoid prosecution for allegedly covering up sex abuse by priests in Arizona.

Jayme West, a reporter for KTAR radio, is our guest now in Phoenix.

Good morning to you and thanks for getting up early with us. What's been the reaction so far with this story breaking there in Phoenix last evening?

JAYME WEST, REPORTER, KTAR RADIO: Shock. I would say that's the one word that would describe the reaction. What else could possibly happen to this man?

HEMMER: What's been the reaction about the story or the statement given about a dog or a cat or possibly a rock hitting his car?

WEST: Well, listening to callers into our station yesterday, a lot of people are just not buying it. When you talk about a 6-foot tall, 235-pound man hitting your wind she would, as opposed to a rock or a cat or a dog, there's obviously going to be a big difference.

HEMMER: As a Catholic myself, the news has been nothing but negative in recent weeks. Going back to the deal that was cut with prosecutors how has -- how has this bishop been viewed in that community?

WEST: Well, I talked to parishioners the day that the agreement was announced, the agreement in which he avoided, actually got immunity from prosecution on obstruction of justice charges.

Now that is because he did acknowledge that he allowed priests to work with minors even though they had been accused of sexual abuse. Also transferring priests accused of sexual abuse into parishes without letting their supervisors know of the allegations. Talking to parishioners, they seemed very supportive on the church, but really didn't want to comment too much on the bishop himself. HEMMER: Also, Jayme, there's a report out there that say the police tried to get in touch with him either Saturday night or Sunday and their phone calms were not returned. Is that fact?

WEST: That's correct. I just spoke with the police sergeant here at police headquarters. They tell me they did contact the archdiocese. The monsignor actually called the bishop's home to give the bishop the message that police would like to speak with him. That was on Sunday. The bishop never called.

In fact, from what we understand, he made arrangements to get his windshield fixed yesterday, and the first time they spoke with him was when they knocked on his door yesterday.

HEMMER: We should point out that he did drive that car on Sunday, took it to mass and also took it to visit his sister, who's living in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is not too far from where this accident took place in northwestern Phoenix.

Jayme West, reporter, KTAR there in Phoenix. Thanks for talking with us there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com