By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — A police sergeant charged with seriously injuring an elderly man while driving drunk on the Upper East Side pleaded guilty Monday and is expected to spend eight weekends in jail.
Joseph Spiekerman, 43, had worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift in the Bronx on June 28, 2009, before heading to a bar on E.85th Street and York Avenue and staying until 6:30 a.m., according to prosecutors. On his way home from the bar, he struck 68-year-old Barry Gintel, who was reportedly walking to get a morning cup of coffee.
Gintel was brought to New York Presbyterian and treated for "broken ribs, compound fractures in his legs, a ruptured spleen, head injuries, and a broken neck," according to the criminal complaint.
Spiekerman pleaded guilty to assault and drunk-driving charges and will serve his weekends behind bars for two months. He will also serve 500 hours of community service and pay $15,000 in restitution to the victim.
"He has been extremely remorseful," Spiekerman’s attorney, Andrew Quinn, told reporters.
He will also be discharged from the NYPD and lose his police pension as a result of the felony conviction.
Quinn said Spiekerman's community service will likely involve lecturing to police officers, firefighters, EMS workers and other first responders about the consequences of drunk driving.
