The commander of the New Orleans Police Department's fatality division has been suspended without pay after he was involved in two hit-and-run crashes and a third wreck in his take-home police car.

Police said no one was hurt in Saturday's accidents, and the vehicles received minor damage.

Bob Young, an NOPD spokesman, says the officer, Sergeant Donovan Livacarri, received four traffic citations, two of them alleging hit-and-run.

Attorney Frank DeSalvo, who routinely represents police officers in administrative and criminal matters, said there were mitigating circumstances involving health issues.

He says investigators are trying to determine if there were possible medical causes for the accident.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)