Larimer man whose blood-alcohol level was 4 times legal limit gets prison for deadly crash
A Larimer man will spend at least 2-1/2 years in state prison after pleading guilty to killing a pedestrian while driving drunk in 2021.
Cody Riggins, 28, pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle and driving under the influence in December. On Thursday, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley sentenced Riggins to 2-1/2 to 7 years behind bars followed by three years of probation.
Riggins has credit for 399 days he has already served in Allegheny County Jail.
Investigators said that Riggins had a blood-alcohol level of 0.313% — nearly four times the legal limit of 0.08% — when he struck Thomas Risko, who was walking along Route 130 in Monroeville on Aug. 11, 2021.
A witness traveling in the opposite direction told investigators that he saw Riggins’ orange Ford Mustang convertible go over the curb, hit a concrete barrier and then strike Risko.
Riggins remained at the scene, and officers said he showed signs of intoxication, including smelling of alcohol and having bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. He failed a field sobriety test.
Testing showed that Riggins also had marijuana in his system.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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