Iraq vet who hit officer says he drank to “forget”

Iraq vet who hit Springfield Township officer says he drank to “forget”
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published: July 15, 2012

Michael Plemons concedes that he had been drinking before he drove in a dark area along South Arlington Road near his home in March 2011.

He has denied little about that terrible evening.

As he steered his heavy-duty pickup, with its driver-side headlight out, between police cruisers parked on each side of the road — strobes flashing — he went left of center and hit something. It was an officer in a dark uniform with no reflective vest in an area with no street lighting.

He drove a little farther, turned around and, police say, he came back to see what he had hit.

On the pavement was Springfield Township police officer Mark Dodez, then 32, a 12-year police veteran and father of two young daughters. He is now partially paralyzed from the waist down.

Plemons tested positive for alcohol — 0.289, or three times the legal limit. He had previous traffic arrests, including four that were alcohol-related.

But there were aspects of Plemons’ life that generally were not known as his case came to trial.

He was an Iraqi war veteran.

“I took an oath to defend this country, against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he said. “I never thought I would be the enemy.”
read more here