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Hendersonville NC State Trooper Resigns after Drunk Driving Hit & Run Accident
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ASHEVILLE — Police believe an off-duty N.C. Highway Patrol trooper was drunk when he ran a red light and hit a car, leaving a Franklin man with serious injuries.
Trooper Timothy Scott Stiwinter, of Ellerslie Acre, Hendersonville, resigned early Friday morning, hours after the wreck at the intersection of Airport and Fanning Bridge roads in Buncombe County, the Highway Patrol said.
Asheville police arrested him on charges of drunken driving and felony hit and run.
Franklin resident Ronald Schott was at Mission Hospital in serious condition on Friday.
“We are grateful he is alive,” said his wife, Patricia Schott. “It was a serious accident. He was pretty badly injured.”
Schott was on his way home from an out-of-town trip trip, his wife said. He doesn't remember the accident.
Officer Danny Britt stopped Stiwinter's 2006 Nissan Titan on Hendersonville Road after the 11:54 p.m. wreck.
Stiwinter refused to perform a field sobriety test or a take breath-alcohol test, according to a search warrant filed by Officer A.M. Fowler to get a court order for his blood.
The blood will be tested to determine its alcohol level. The test hadn't been completed on Friday.
Stiwinter was released on an involuntary commitment order, according to court papers. The order generally means a person must be evaluated because there is reason to believe he is a danger to himself or others.
He did not immediately return a telephone message on Friday.
Fowler, according to her search warrant application, detected an odor of alcohol on Stiwinter. She said in court papers that he was unsteady on his feet. Fowler listed him as “unemployed” on the search warrant.
The warrant was issued at 4:45 a.m. Stiwinter resigned 15 minutes later, according to the Highway Patrol.
Capt. Sarah Benson, who heads the patrol division, said she didn't know why the officer didn't list Stiwinter's occupation.
“They really don't have to list that on the ticket,” she said. “Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.”
Fowler wasn't available for comment on Friday. Acting Sgt. Scott Pruett, who also worked the wreck and is writing the crash report, wasn't available, said Benson.
The report, which is public record, wasn't finished, Benson said. It might be filed on Monday, she said.
Benson said officers try to get crash reports in by the end of their shifts but lengthy investigations can take longer to complete.
She said this case was “a more serious accident than a fender-bender.”
Stiwinter was a master trooper who had been with the Highway Patrol since 1999. He was assigned to Henderson County and made $56,330 a year, according to state employment records.
Stiwinter in 2007 faced a civil complaint for domestic violence, but the matter has since been resolved, according to court records.
From Citizen Times
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