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Maryland diocese says Episcopal bishop at wheel in fatal hit-and-run

 
Flowers and messages are shown Monday at the scene of a fatal collision between a car and bicyclist along a Baltimore residential street with a bike lane. The Episcopal Church of Maryland says one of its bishops was driving the car Saturday when it struck and killed cyclist Tom Palermo. The Baltimore Police Department is investigating.
Flowers and messages are shown Monday at the scene of a fatal collision between a car and bicyclist along a Baltimore residential street with a bike lane. The Episcopal Church of Maryland says one of its bishops was driving the car Saturday when it struck and killed cyclist Tom Palermo. The Baltimore Police Department is investigating.
Published Dec. 30, 2014

An Episcopal bishop who was the driver in a hit-and-run crash that killed a bicyclist in Baltimore was charged four years ago with drunken driving and marijuana possession, court documents show.

Bishop Suffragan Heather Cook, who is the No. 2 leader for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, was driving a car that hit Tom Palermo, 41, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, diocese spokeswoman Sharon Tillman said.

Palermo died from head injuries, said Bruce Goldfarb, spokesman for the Maryland Medical Examiner's Office.

In an email Sunday, Bishop Eugene Sutton told priests in the diocese that Cook left the scene of Saturday's accident, but returned about 20 minutes later "to take responsibility for her actions."

Flowers and messages at the scene Monday expressed sympathy for Palermo. The busy residential road included a designated bike lane.

Sutton said Cook was on administrative leave "because the nature of the accident could result in criminal charges."

Court records show that a sheriff's deputy stopped Cook on Sept. 10, 2010, in Caroline County on the Eastern Shore. The officer wrote in a report that Cook was driving on the shoulder at 29 mph in a 50-mph zone with a shredded front tire. The deputy noted that a strong alcohol odor emanated from the vehicle and that Cook had vomit down the front of her shirt.

The officer wrote that Cook was so intoxicated that she couldn't finish a field sobriety test because she might fall and hurt herself.

According to the report, Cook registered 0.27 percent blood alcohol content. The legal limit in Maryland is 0.08 percent.

The officer found two small bags of marijuana in the vehicle, along with paraphernalia, and a bottle of wine and a bottle of liquor.

Cook pleaded guilty to drunken driving, and the marijuana possession charges were dropped. A judge sentenced her to a fine and probation before judgment on the DUI charge, meaning her record could be cleared if she stayed out of trouble.

Tillman said Cook disclosed the earlier charges when she was vetted and ultimately elected as the diocese's first female bishop.

Police confirmed in a statement Monday that the driver of the car left the scene of Saturday's accident and returned later, but they declined to release her identity or the cause of the crash, saying they were still investigating.

Palermo's sister-in-law Alisa Rock said the family is devastated.

"Tom was a loving husband, a dedicated father," Rock said, adding that he was an avid cyclist who often took rides on weekends.