Bad Priest, Bad Driver

JUNE 17--Meet Thomas O'Brien. The Roman Catholic bishop was arrested yesterday and charged in connection with a fatal hit and run in Arizona. According to this report, filed in Superior Court by Phoenix police, O'Brien, 67, was driving Saturday night when his vehicle struck Jim Reed, a 43-year-old pedestrian, who later "died from injuries sustained in the collision." Thanks to a witness who copied down O'Brien's license plate, cops tracked down the cleric, who claimed that he "thought he hit a dog, cat, or someone threw rock at car." But serious damage to the car and its windshield make O'Brien's explanation seem laughable (unless that tabby weighed 235 pounds). Before cops came with cuffs, O'Brien had arranged for the damaged windshield to get repaired. O'Brien is no stranger to criminal investigators. Last month, in a deal to avoid indictment on obstruction charges, the bishop publicly admitted that he had concealed numerous instances of sexual misconduct by priests against minors. He also acknowledged that he transferred predatory priests from church to church without disclosing their tainted history to parishioners. O'Brien, released on $45,000 bond, faces a June 25 preliminary hearing in the hit and run case. (4 pages)

HOMICIDE: Another hit and run horror story.