By Dana DiFilippo
The Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — An off-duty State Police trooper facing a DUI charge drove the wrong way onto the Schuylkill Expressway early yesterday and died after crashing head-on into another car.
The crash, which critically injured the other driver, occurred the same day that Cpl. John Quigg was to appear in Montgomery County Court for an update on his December drunk-driving arrest.
Quigg, 48, of Wyndmoor, Montgomery County, was a 24-year State Police veteran based in the Belmont Avenue barracks, where he was an accident reconstructionist and drug-recognition expert who helped supervise sobriety checkpoints.
But he had been on desk duty since he crashed his car into a guardrail Dec. 17 on Route 422 in Upper Merion. His blood-alcohol level after that low-speed crash was 0.30. The legal limit in Pennsylvania is 0.08.
In yesterday’s wreck, Quigg steered his 2000 Honda Accord the wrong way onto I-76 via the Spring Garden exit ramp shortly after 1 a.m., police said. As he drove against eastbound traffic, he crashed into a 1994 Mercury Marquis driven by Chantelle Harper, 23, of Philadelphia.
Quigg died shortly after at Hahnemann University Hospital. Harper, who suffered several broken bones and other injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening, was in good condition yesterday after surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, police said.
Harper was wearing a seat belt; Quigg was not, police said.
It was unclear whether Quigg entered the wrong lane of the Expressway accidentally or intentionally.
“We’re still trying to gain a complete picture of what happened,” State Police Lt. David Buckley said.
He said that investigators have requested toxicology tests, as is routine in such accidents. But State Police spokeswoman Trooper Danea Durham said that investigators found no evidence suggesting that either driver had been impaired.
Quigg, a father of four, was scheduled to appear before Montgomery County Judge Steven T. O’Neill at 9 a.m. yesterday for a pretrial conference on his December DUI arrest. The Daily News was unable yesterday to reach his attorney, Timothy Woodward Sr., for comment.
Woodward has said in previous court appearances that Quigg underwent alcohol rehab after his arrest.
Buckley, who has known Quigg for 15 years, called him a “hardworking, dedicated, competent and professional investigator.”
“We see some horrific things in police work, and how that affects each and every one of us is different,” Buckley said.
“I don’t know if any of the carnage John has seen played a role in any of his past problems. I can only speak of the excellent work he did for us every day.”
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