A former Pennsylvania cop, Gunner Vuocolo, crashed his personal vehicle into two 4-year-old kids while they were in the crosswalk. Despite the criminal charges against him, he won’t be serving prison time but will only serve six months’ probation.

The incident happened last year on Nov. 18 when a mother was pushing her baby’s stroller and walking in the crosswalk with her children. They had the right-of-way. Suddenly, Vuocolo’s car slammed into them while he was distracted by his phone.

He was off duty at that time but was still in his uniform. The surveillance video of the incident showed the car hitting Manda Haines’ children, and she quickly went to confront the cop. She hit him twice when he got out of the car.

He did not react but seemed confused and scared. In the video, he can be seen making a call on his phone. After the incident, Vuocolo resigned from his position as he was charged with careless driving, reckless driving, and four counts of reckless endangerment. Earlier, he was facing up to five years.

However, the former police officer was allowed to enter Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition as part of a first-time offender’s plea deal. After serving six months of probation, the charges will be expunged from his record.

When he hit the kids with his vehicle, they were thrown into the air and suffered several injuries. Apart from physical injuries that took a while to heal, they were also traumatized after the incident. Haines was disappointed by the outcome of the case and wrote a lengthy post on Facebook.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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She noted, “His deal was still pretty much a slap on the wrist for what he did, but we definitely got more than just the traffic violations that Lock Haven was pushing for.” She added that her kids could have died due to his distracted driving while they were lawfully walking on the pedestrian crosswalk.

The post further reads, “As law enforcement, you should know better and be better. How can you trust someone who breaks the law to uphold others to the law?” Haines further elaborated on her kids’ trauma and wrote, “The little girl you hit, her name is Raelynn. Raelynn used to want to be a cop when she grew up; now she’s terrified of law enforcement and no longer wants to be one.”

She explained her daughter’s favorite color used to be red, and now she associated it with the car that hit them. Her son tries to be strong, but she can witness the fear in his eyes. Her kids have healed from physical trauma, but stated, “psychological impact that is more damaging.”

Meanwhile, Vuocolo will be eligible to have the charges expunged after completing probation. According to Clinton County Sheriff Kerry Stover, Vuocolo did not resign after the incident, but he failed to meet the training academy criteria. He also has a background in culinary arts and previously worked for Levy Restaurants.