Philly Cop Drives on Three Flat Tires, Gets Arrested for Second Time

Darryl Cathey

From the Department of My Lawyer Said, “You Did WHAT?” comes the cautionary tale of 26-year-old Philadelphia Police Officer Darryl Cathey, a six-year veteran of the force who is not likely to see year seven.

On early Saturday morning at 12:30 a.m., Cathey was trying to park his marked police car on the 6500 block of Woodland Avenue in West Philadelphia when he was spotted by a police supervisor, who was quick to note that the car had not one, not two, but three flat tires and bent rims.

According to Philadelphia Police spokesperson Lieutenant John Stanford, the supervisor decided to talk to Cathey to see what the heck was going on, and he smelled alcohol on Cathey’s breath and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot. Police say that Cathey told the supervisor that he was unaware of the extensive damage to his police car.

Police went to take Cathey into custody, and as they were doing so, he allegedly assaulted one of them. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and DUI, among other offenses. He posted bail on Saturday and was released. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 13th.

“This department takes these types of incidents seriously and behavior that doesn’t abide by the law, department policy and the highest level of integrity and service will not be tolerated,” said Stanford in a statement.

Cathey is on a 30-day suspension, but Commissioner Charles Ramsey intends to fire him, which would be the second time that Ramsey will have done so. In 2011, Cathey was accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend. He was fired then, too, but after the charges against him were dropped, he got his old job back. That was in 2014.

No word on where Cathey was coming from, but he lives near Mount Airy, so he was a long way from home.

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