cops arrest citizen for drinking in a bar..again, to much money, too much time to spare and not enough to do

The Washington Post



February 28, 2003 Friday


Final Edition


Two Sentenced in Va. Bar Sweep Dispute Police


BYLINE: Carol Morello, Washington Post Staff Writer


SECTION: METRO; Pg. B05


LENGTH: 846 words


On karaoke night at a crowded Reston bar just before Christmas, Daniel Crowley had at least six beers at a stage side table where he sat with three friends.


The mortgage broker had no idea that the attractive man and woman eyeing him from their stools were plainclothes Fairfax County police officers. Their mission was to observe drunks in bars so uniformed officers could arrest them on charges of being drunk in public.


No one had complained about Crowley's behavior, and one of his friends was the night's designated driver. But Crowley was about to be caught up in a police operation that was designed to deter intoxicated drivers, but has subsequently been criticized as heavy-handed and unfair.


"I didn't know what was going on," Crowley testified yesterday in Fairfax County General District Court, where he contested the charge before Judge Michael Cassidy. "I'd paid my tab, and I was ready to go home."


More than two months after police raided bars in Herndon and Reston on five nights during the holiday season, several of the nine men charged with public drunkenness are challenging their arrests.


Police have called the sweep a success and noted that defendants who agreed to breathalyzer tests registered blood-alcohol levels ranging from 0.14 to 0.22. But civil libertarians, restaurateurs and many patrons contend police arrested people who were drinking responsibly and causing no commotion. Under Virginia law, public intoxication is a low-level misdemeanor punishable by a night in jail and a fine of up to $ 250.


Crowley and Michael Damkot had trials yesterday. Cassidy ruled that both men were intoxicated in public and ordered them to perform 25 hours of community service. No conviction will go on their records. Two other defendants have attorneys and will appear before Cassidy later.


Only two defendants pleaded guilty. Three others were convicted and fined $ 35 when they did not appear in court yesterday.


"I'm happy with the outcome," said Damkot, 24, of Herndon, who represented himself. "I don't necessarily agree with the tactic. But the law is the law. I broke it, and I'll pay my penance to society."


Damkot acknowledged that he was intoxicated the night he was arrested at Champps in Reston. Fairfax County police officers testified that they noticed him because of his bloodshot eyes and overheard him tell a young woman that he intended to drive home. After ordering him a glass of water, the woman told the undercover officers that she wanted to keep him from doing "anything stupid," police testified.


But Damkot said he had no car to drive that night.


"I didn't have a vehicle there," he said. "I had no intention of driving. I knew I'd been in a bar, and I was drinking."


In sentencing Damkot to 25 hours of public service, Cassidy lectured him about the dangers of drinking too much -- even in a tavern. Under Virginia law, a bar is a public place.


"Just because you're in a bar doesn't mean you can get wiped out," Cassidy told Damkot. "You could be a danger to yourself and a threat to the public."


Crowley and his drinking companions disputed police testimony that they observed him spilling beer in his lap, slurring his speech and having trouble staying upright on his seat.


"He was at a table with a group, and his behavior stood out from all the others," said Fairfax County Police Sgt. O.W. Elam.


Under cross-examination from Crowley's attorney, police acknowledged that neither they nor bar patrons had complained that Crowley was acting unruly or meddlesome. They also testified that he did not disobey their orders, even though he declined to submit to a breathalyzer test.


Crowley, 29, testified that he has a chronic problem with red eyes and pulled from his pocket a bottle of eyedrops that he said he uses every day.


Wendy Richards, a friend who was drinking beer with him that night, denied that Crowley showed any symptoms of intoxication. She testified that she had been chatting with the two undercover officers, not realizing they were anything but customers.


"They humiliated me," she said after the hearing. "They used me as a decoy."


Jacob Perkins, an attorney for Crowley, argued that Crowley should not have been arrested because he was not bothering anyone. "There's a difference between being drunk in public and being rowdy and drunk in public," he said.


After the hearing, Crowley decried the police sweep and said he no longer frequents bars in Fairfax.


"I'm not happy with the way they can walk into a restaurant and do as they please," he said of police. "I don't want to go to places in the atmosphere where you don't know who is who."


The operation was defended by Ron Miner, a member of the Fairfax County DWI oversight committee, who attended court to observe the proceedings. Miner noted that police launched the raids after responding to bar fights at several taverns.


"They were trying to have a high-visibility presence in the area," he said. "It's an effort to try to deter violent behavior and keep people from driving drunk. . . . I think it was good public awareness."