Former police chief pleads guilty in DUI crash

A former local police chief will spend the next year on probation after admitting he caused a drinking-and-driving crash one year ago.

Carl Segatti, 71, of Manchester Township, pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence and reckless endangerment stemming from the incident on April 7, 2022. He made the plea instead of going forward with a bench trial that was set for later that day.

Terms of the agreement included one year of probation for Segatti, who retired as chief of the Northern York Regional Police Department in 2010, and an order to pay $500 in restitution.

Six other counts were dismissed.

Segatti was driving a Jeep when he rear-ended a car that was stopped in the left turn lane of Route 30 at North Sherman Street the evening of April 7, a Thursday. A group of York Area United Fire/Rescue firefighters were behind his vehicle and witnessed the crash, Springettsbury Township police said.

One firefighter told police he saw Segatti get out of his Jeep and check on the other car’s driver. He also spoke to the firefighter and handed him a card with his number on it, the criminal complaint shows.

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Segatti then allegedly got back into his Jeep to drive away. When the firefighter tried to stop him, telling him he couldn't leave the scene, Segatti allegedly replied: “Watch me.”

The driver of the other car went to a local hospital with neck pain, which police said was whiplash.

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Officers later found Segatti at his home. There, he allegedly said his foot had slipped off the Jeep’s clutch, causing it to lurch forward into the other car.

As they spoke, an officer suspected Segatti was drunk and arrested him. In the process, Segatti allegedly wanted the officer to include in his report that he drank vodka while at home to create an “affirmative defense,” according to the complaint.

A blood test showed his blood-alcohol content at the time was 0.216%, well above the legal limit of .08% for driving.

Investigators also learned the registration on Segatti’s Jeep was expired and that he had allegedly switched its license plate with the plate from another car he owns.

Following his arrest, Segatti applied to enter York County’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program in August 2022.

The District Attorney's Office denied the request a few months later in November due to the "nature and extent of injuries to victim."

ARD is generally available to first-time offenders who meet specific criteria, and it serves as an opportunity for them to avoid convictions and sentences in their cases. They can also potentially have the charges expunged from their record.

Segatti initially faced seven misdemeanor and summary charges in the case, including two counts of DUI.

He pleaded guilty Tuesday to one of the DUI counts as a first offense, and then to a count of reckless endangerment. That count was added to the case as part of the plea agreement, while the other six were dismissed.

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York County Court of Common Pleas Judge Harry Ness accepted the plea and stuck with terms of the agreement for the sentence.

Segatti was ordered to do six months of probation on the DUI count, which includes three days of home detention with electronic monitoring and 10 days of alcohol monitoring. The other count called for another six months of non-reporting probation.

He was also ordered to pay $500 in restitution for the crash victim, his driver’s license will be suspended, and he has to undergo a drug and alcohol evaluation.

Segatti’s attorney, Chris Ferro, told the court he completed the evaluation last year.

— Reach Aimee Ambrose at aambrose@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @aimee_TYD.