DETROIT – The man charged in the hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a Detroit police officer will be behind bars for the foreseeable future.
Jonathan David Cole, 19, was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on Friday morning.
Officer Fadi Shukur died Aug. 15, 2018 from the serious injuries he received Aug. 4, 2018 when he was struck by a car while trying to control traffic in the middle of McNichols Road, officials said.
Cole was in court for sentencing on Friday morning. A judge sentenced him to up to 15 years in prison.
Friends and family of Shukur, including his mother, wife and fellow officers, delivered emotional victim impact statements. (Video will be available shortly).
Cole apologized to the family and the police department while in court on Friday.
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Officials said underage drinking contributed to the incident, and a woman who was in the car with Cole at the time of the crash said she warned him about blinking police lights and people in the street.
Cole is accused of hitting Shukur while going 70 mph.
"The individual continued to operate that vehicle until it broke down," Kleparek said.
Detroit police Chief James Craig said fellow officers tried to save their badly injured colleague.
"Within seconds of him being struck by a vehicle, they immediately placed him in a marked unit and rushed him three miles to Sinai-Grace Hospital," Craig said.
Shukur was a rookie on the Detroit police force after a six-year stint in the Navy. He had recently married.
Cole was charged with second-degree murder, reckless driving resulting in death and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death. He eventually agreed to a plea deal to reckless driving causing death, failure to stop at scene of accident resulting in death.
Cole turned himself in to police the day of the alleged incident.