PINE BLUFF, AR - Pine Bluff Police Officer Billy Bradley is charged with a felony of leaving the scene of an accident that left his son, Briston Bradley, blind.
"The first thing he said when he heard me, because he couldn't see, he just said, "Mama I wasn't driving," said Lori Mitchell, Briston Bradley's mother.
But he wouldn't say who was. Initial reports say Bradley was a passenger when 'someone' crashed this car on the side of the highway in October, 2011.
Investigators traced the driver back to Briston's father and, Thursday night, nine months after the crash, State Police arrested 42-year-old Pine Bluff Police Officer Billy Bradley.
"The decisions that you make, you've just got to be accountable for them," said Bradley.
Bradley is charged with leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, reckless driving and inadequate insurance.
"Briston wouldn't have left him," said Mitchell. "Out of everything in the world, Briston wouldn't have ever left him."
Neither Bradley nor his lawyer will comment, but in his written statement to police he admits to taking sleep medicine before wrecking the car and leaving the scene.
Pine Bluff Police won't comment either but do confirm Bradley is still working as a patrol officer on the force.
"I don't know if it's crazy to say but I'm not mad at billy," said Mitchell. "I feel sorry for him."
And as Bradley waits for his court date, Mitchell and her son hope to start healing.
"My main focus now is praying for a miracle," she said.
The Commission on Law Enforcement Standards says an officer must be convicted of a felony to become ineligible to serve on the force. Any other disciplinary action up up to the police department.
