Athens, Madison Police departments accused of protecting their own in alleged drunk driving wreck

By WAAY Staff

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    Alabama (WAAY) — Serious allegations have been levied against two North Alabama police departments accused of protecting one of their own.

The lawsuits filed on behalf of two young women injured in a November 2023 crash say the man responsible was allowed to leave the scene even though the Madison Police Department officers who responded thought he was drunk.

It turns out the man behind the wheel of the car that caused the head-on crash is also an officer from neighboring Athens Police Department.

“I personally believe that any of us – you, me, anybody – if we had had this happen, we would have been in jail,” said Patrick Lamar, the attorney representing the young women.

But Lamar said that’s not what happened that night at the intersection of Highway 72 and Wall Triana. Two young women coming home from meeting friends were sitting in the turn lane when they were hit head on.

Patrick Lamar says the driver made no attempt to take any evasive action. Lamar says the two women managed to get out of their wrecked car through the passenger door and collapsed to the ground. Lamar says the other driver – identified as Athens Police Officer Isaiah Hatchett – never checked on them despite apparently not being seriously hurt himself.

“He didn’t call the emergency line,” said Lamar. “That was done by bystanders to help the girls out of the road.”

The women were rushed to the hospital with broken bones and bruises. One of the women required emergency surgery. According to the police report, Madison Police, who responded to the scene, believed the driver who hit them was intoxicated.

“The reason we know that is because they issued what’s known as a field sobriety test, which is just those little maneuvers you go through – physical maneuvers – to try and show that you’re not drunk,” said Lamar. “They marked down on the report that the results were inconclusive, which to us seems very suspect.”

Lamar also says Officer Hatchett refused a breath test. Officers wrote Hatchett a ticket for driving on the wrong side of the road and having an open container in his car.

“And then the officers made the determination that this officer, this Athens Police officer, should be allowed to go home,” Lamar said.

Lamar filed legal claims against the cities of Athens and Madison (You can read those below). He believes that despite the lack of evidence at the scene, Madison Police cut a fellow officer a break.

WAAY 31 obtained Officer Hatchett’s personnel records. And while they don’t reference this crash, they do show this is not the first time Hatchett’s been in trouble.

In February of this year, Hatchett was given a written reprimand for not following proper procedure after a drug arrest (See that below). Not only did the suspect walk free, but also the discipline report stated Officer Hatchett’s action “opens the city of Athens to civil liability” and that “further violations…may result in dismissal.”

WAAY 31 checked and Officer Hatchett is still with the Athens Police Department.

“I don’t know what happened in this incident, but I know there are guidelines on how to take care of a situation like that,” said Donny Shaw, spokesperson for the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 6.

“I could not imagine there’s an incident where there’s serious property damage, there’s possible injuries…I couldn’t imagine there would be any kind of favoritism given in a situation like that.”

Lamar says he believes that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, but he’s at a disadvantage due to the officers’ actions that night.

“We don’t know how intoxicated he appeared. And the bad thing about it is we will never know how intoxicated he was because the police let him go without a test.”

Lamar said his investigators discovered Officer Hatchett was returning home that night from a party – a party at which other officers in attendance believed he was too drunk to drive.

“He was intoxicated enough at that time, that when he tried to leave the party, the people there tried to get him to take a Lyft or an Uber, you know, a ride service,” Lamar said.

The two women injured didn’t feel comfortable going on camera, but Lamar says his clients want this story told.

“My clients and I both believe that officers of the law should not give officers of the law a break to walk away from a scene where the evidence is as clear as it is here,” Lamar said. He says this is not a vendetta against the police department but there can’t be a double standard. “You can’t have a standard for me and have a different standard for police dealing with the police. I don’t think that’s the way it works.”

Lamar has been refused access to body camera footage of the incident. He believes the Madison Police officers are under investigation for allowing the Athens officer to leave the scene of the accident with injuries without a blood-alcohol test.

The city of Madison has not responded to requests for comment from WAAY.

Stay with WAY 31 as we work to learn more about this case.

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