After crashing his car early April 10 in St. Paul, Hastings police officer Donald James Farrington walked away from the scene, according to criminal charges against him.
Once at home, prosecutors say, he called St. Paul police and told them he had been carjacked at gunpoint while off duty.
Farrington, 40, of North St. Paul was charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with falsely reporting a crime and leaving the scene of an accident, both misdemeanors.
Hastings Police Chief Mike McMenomy said Farrington told him of the crash the day after it happened and then voluntarily went into a medical treatment program.
McMenomy said that he could not disclose what the treatment entails, citing privacy guidelines, but that Farrington is using accrued sick and vacation time.
“He told us he needed help for some problems, and we worked with him on that as we would with any employee,” said McMenomy, who is retiring and whose last day is today.
According to the complaint, Farrington smashed his car into a telephone pole near Winthrop Street and Lower Afton Road about 4:15 a.m.
A police report notes Farrington’s car had heavy front-end damage and that officers did not notice a smell of alcohol inside, St. Paul police Senior Cmdr. Greg Pye said.
When officers arrived at his home shortly after 5 a.m. to take a report, Pye said, Farrington came clean about what had happened.
“He admitted it was not stolen and he had been driving when he got into the accident,” Pye said.
A preliminary breath test showed Farrington’s blood-alcohol concentration was at 0.03 percent, Pye said. The state’s legal limit for driving is 0.08 percent.
Farrington, who was hired by Hastings police in 2006, was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence in 2002, court records show. The case was later dismissed.
In 1994, he was charged with gross misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor criminal damage to property — two cases that also were dismissed, court records show.
McMenomy, who was appointed chief in 2000, said he knew of Farrington’s past before hiring him.
“He hadn’t been convicted of the crimes, and it was six years earlier,” he said. “The background investigation showed he had taken care of the problem.”
McMenomy said Farrington “has been a good officer with us.”
“He has done a good job over the years, and this is obviously a mistake that he made and he recognized it and he’s getting help for it immediately,” he said. “The city will review everything, and there is disappointment involved in it. You want the best for him.”
The charges against Farrington are among a string of criminal cases the department has been dealing with over the past two years involving members of its ranks.
In August, former Hastings officer Anthony Todd Miller was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of supervised release after driving around the city during work hours watching child pornography on his personal laptop computer.
In February, Patrol Sgt. Valerie Scharfe was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct after filing traffic tickets against people she’d never met. In a separate matter a month earlier, Scharfe, who had threatened to sue the police department for workplace harassment, received $105,000 in a legal settlement with the city.
And in 2008, officer Rene Doffing was accused of ramming a fleeing suspect with his car. The man, who injured his knee, received $11,000 in a legal settlement stemming from the incident. But prosecutors dropped all criminal charges against Doffing.
Attempts to reach Farrington on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Court documents did not list an attorney for him.
Farrington has been summoned to make his first court appearance Aug. 17.
The maximum penalty for a misdemeanor conviction is 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2173.
