OMAHA — The father of three children injured in a crash involving University of Nebraska Regent Elizabeth O’Connor urged her to step down during a Board of Regents meeting Friday.
Ricoh Mountain, whose daughters were in the backseat of a vehicle struck by O’Connor in May, said the regent’s actions have caused lasting harm and show she is unfit to serve. Mountain told the board his mother-in-law suffered a broken back and pelvis in the collision and remains hospitalized, while his children sustained minor injuries.
Police said O’Connor, 34, crossed the center line on Blondo Street around 8:30 p.m. on May 21, hitting a vehicle carrying five passengers. Court records show officers found a half-empty bottle of Fireball whisky in her car and measured her blood-alcohol content at 0.321 — more than four times the legal limit. She was charged in August with felony DUI causing serious bodily injury.
Mountain questioned why charges took more than two months to file, suggesting others in the community would not have received the same treatment. Another speaker, Carolyn Folsom, also demanded O’Connor’s resignation, calling her “a disgrace to this board and this community.”
Audience members applauded both statements, though one speaker, Joseph Neary, defended O’Connor, saying it would be “premature and unfair” to remove her before the case concludes, stressing the principle of innocence until proven guilty.
Friday marked the first time O’Connor’s status was publicly addressed at a regents’ meeting. While some board members and Governor Jim Pillen have noted the seriousness of the charges, they also emphasized she remains innocent until proven guilty.
O’Connor, first elected to represent Omaha’s District 4 in 2018 and reelected in 2024, has declined public comment. She is no longer employed by the Douglas County Attorney’s Office, where she worked as a prosecutor. State Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha has said she may file articles of impeachment when the Legislature reconvenes in January.
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