By Jim Schultz
Redding Record Searchlight
REDDING, Calif. — A California Highway Patrol officer charged with felony DUI in connection with a January chain-reaction crash gave up her right Wednesday to have a preliminary hearing and is scheduled to begin her trial on Jan. 15.
Doreen Bernice Shaw, 42, a 17-year CHP veteran and Redding resident, is charged with two counts of felony DUI with injury, one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing officers and a series of enhancements.
Shaw, who has pleaded not guilty, waived her right to the hearing based upon a plea bargain offer that remains open, said Redding attorney John Kucera, who represents her.
That offer is to plead guilty or no contest to driving with an 0.08 percent or more blood-alcohol level causing injury, he said.
In exchange, she would be placed on probation and her felony conviction would be reduced to a misdemeanor once she successfully completed it, he said.
The criminal charges against Shaw, who remains free on her own recognizance, stem from a Jan. 14 four-car wreck on South Bonnyview Avenue while she was off duty.
Shaw was not hurt in the crash. Police have said five others suffered minor injuries.
It’s alleged her blood alcohol level ranged from 0.13 percent to 0.16 percent. The legal driving limit is 0.08 percent.
A Redding police report said Shaw, who reportedly admitted she was too drunk to drive, was belligerent, combative and screamed profanities at officers following the wreck. She also allegedly tried to walk away from officers after she was handcuffed and kneed RPD Officer Tyler Lanham in his left thigh before she was forcibly placed in the back of a patrol car, the police report said.
Shaw, who was named an officer of the year in 2001 and has had no disciplinary actions against her during her CHP career, works as a commercial officer at the CHP’s Cottonwood truck inspection facility.
She was placed on restrictive assignment at the Cottonwood facility after her arrest.
Shaw is accused of setting off a four-car wreck in which five people were injured.
Copyright 2012 Record Searchlight