DUI charge dropped against Green Tree police officer

A judge dropped a driving under the influence charge against a Green Tree police officer who ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle last month.

Eric Diehl, 49, had been on administrative leave since the Dec. 7 crash on Saw Mill Run Boulevard shortly after 1 a.m.

Pittsburgh police responded to the intersection of Maytide Street and found the two-vehicle crash, authorities said at the time. Investigators said Diehl was headed inbound when he went through a red light and struck another vehicle.

Police wrote in the criminal complaint that Diehl failed several field sobriety tests.

Prosecutors argued at Wednesday’s preliminary hearing that Diehl admitted to drinking three beers while he was in West Virginia three hours earlier, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV.

Diehl’s defense attorney, Wendy Williams, argued that her client’s blood-alcohol level was too low, the station reported. The first test put his level at 0.083. The second test showed it was 0.076. The legal limit is 0.08.

Williams said Diehl has a spotless career and an overambitious officer filed the charges against Diehl.

“I think this is a situation of a rookie police officer,” she told WPXI. “I think he was on the job for 12 months – I think he was being overzealous.”

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@tribweb.com or via Twitter @meganguzaTrib.