SD Police Officer Facing DUI Charge Commits Suicide

Update: Police now say Officer David Christopher Hall killed himself at his home Monday. The story has been updated with further details.

A San Diego police motorcycle patrolman accused of causing an off-duty hit-and-run while intoxicated earlier this year killed himself at his home Monday, officials said.

Officer David Christopher Hall's wife reported his suicide at their Clairemont Mesa home shortly before 10 a.m., police said. Patrol officers found the 41-year-old Hall dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound behind his Ashford Street house, Lt. Andra Brown said.

Hall, facing multiple charges related to a Feb. 22 collision that injured a woman, had been on desk duty in recent months.

During the February collision, Hall's GMC Yukon reportedly crashed into another vehicle on the onramp from Murray Ridge Road to northbound Interstate 805 around 7:30 p.m. The crash injured a woman in the other vehicle, and allegedly left the scene and drove home where police contacted him a short time later, police said.

On May 2, Hall pleaded not guilty to two counts of DUI causing injury, one count of felony hit-and-run and an allegation that his blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was higher than .15 percent, which is about twice the legal limit for driving.

The charges carried a maximum penalty of up to three years and eight months in prison, and a pretrial hearing was scheduled for later this week.

At a briefing Monday afternoon, San Diego police Chief William Lansdowne confirmed that the 14-year officer had "tragically taken his own life."

The chief said he went to Hall's home and met with the patrolman's family "and made sure that the appropriate support systems were in place to assist them during this difficult them."

"The San Diego Police Department was very aware of the stress he was under (following his arrest) and had taken every effort to get (him) the help he needed," the chief told reporters. "In fact, our newly formed wellness unit had met with him just yesterday. Unfortunately, even with the help and support provided, Officer Hall unexpectedly decided to take his own life."

Hall joined the department in January 1997 and had served in SDPD Central Division patrol and later worked on specialized narcotics and parolee- apprehension teams. In August 2008, he transferred to the traffic unit, where he worked for its accident investigations bureau until becoming a motorcycle officer in March of last year.

Hall's death comes just weeks after the death of another officer.

Detective Donna Williams, 52, and her 18-year-old daughter Briana Williams on Monday, July 18. The longtime officer's 24-year-old son, Brian Williams, has been charged with two counts of murder in that case but has .

A funeral for the Williams women .

City News Service contributed to this report.