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Retired officer gets prison time for hit-and-run death of McKeesport woman

PITTSBURGH — A judge on Monday sentenced a retired Allegheny County police officer to one to two years in prison for his guilty plea in the hit-and-run death of a McKeesport woman.

Timothy Tatters Sr., 66, of White Oak pleaded guilty to accidents involving death or personal injury and careless driving in March. Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams sentenced him to prison and eight years of probation stemming from the Jan. 16, 2013, accident.

Police said Tatters hit Lorraine Wilkes, 56, along Lysle Boulevard near her home. Family members said Tatters retired in 1993 after 21 years on the county police force because of heart problems.

According to a county police affidavit, Tatters admitted he spent 11 hours and drank three 16-ounce beers at a bar in the city's Highland Grove neighborhood where his former daughter-in-law was training to be a bartender. Tatters said he drove her home to Glassport and visited with her and his grandson before heading home.

He told investigators he knew he struck something near the Sunoco along the 600 block of Lysle but thought it was a dog and kept driving. A short time later, passers-by found Wilkes on the sidewalk near the gas station. She died about three hours later from multiple injuries at UPMC Mercy.

After arriving home, Tatters checked his vehicle for damage and thought he hit a deer instead of a dog. He did not realize he had hit a person until hearing a news broadcast that Wilkes had been struck near the Sunoco, according to a police affidavit.

This article was written by Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.

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