The national epidemic of drunk and drugged up cops

Visalia officer charged with DUI loses job

By Lewis Griswold

A Visalia police officer facing trial for driving while intoxicated has lost her job.

Erica Martinez, 33, who worked at the Police Department for seven years, "is no longer an employee of the city of Visalia," said Sgt. Ozzie Dominguez. He said he could not provide details because it's a personnel matter.

Martinez was arrested Aug. 4, 2013 after her BMW was involved in a solo-vehicle accident in Visalia. No one was injured and she was not in uniform.

She is charged with misdemeanor drunken driving and driving with a blood alcohol level above .15. A trial has been set for July 15 in Tulare County Superior Court

Denver officer, wife charged after drunken brawl

DENVER (AP) — A Denver police officer and his wife have been charged with assault and child abuse after a brawl at a cookout.

Arapahoe County prosecutors on Thursday charged Officer Jeremy Ownbey and his wife Jamie Ownbey with misdemeanors stemming from the fight May 19. An argument turned violent between the Ownbeys and another couple after heavy drinking, Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania said.

The homeowner, who is also a Denver police officer, asked the Ownbeys to leave, at which point Jamie Ownbey struck the other wife from behind, Fania said. Then, the officers started fighting.

Investigators say the officers acknowledged that they and their wives trade sex partners, but they denied that sex sparked the brawl. The fight ended when the homeowner managed to break free and retrieve a gun. Jeremy Ownbey said the other officer pointed the weapon at him, but police could not prove it, police said.

Jeremy Ownbey then drove away after a night of drinking but later returned to the home to talk to Aurora police officers, Fania said. The Aurora Police Department has launched an internal investigation as to why its officers did not conduct a sobriety test on Jeremy Ownbey and instead drove him home.

No arrests were made that night because the case warranted further investigation by a detective, Fania said.

Both Denver police officers are on desk duty while that department conducts its own internal probe, police Cmdr. Matt Murray said.

Prosecutors say the Ownbeys also left their two young children home alone during the dinner, prompting the child abuse charge.

There is no listed number for the Ownbeys. They are due in court July 22.

Passaic sheriff's officer charged with DWI after allegedly hitting parked cars

By James Kleimann/NJ.com 

TOTOWA — The Passaic County Sheriff's Office has suspended an officer who allegedly was drunk when he struck several parked cars in Totowa on Thursday morning, according to officials.

Patrol division officer Michael Bove, 35, "struck a traffic control box and at least three parked vehicles" at about 1:45 a.m. Thursday morning in Totowa, according to William Maer, a sheriff's department spokesman.

Bove, who has been with the sheriff's office since December 2012 and makes $44,492 annually, was charged with DWI by Totowa police, Maer said. He was not on duty at the time of the crash, the spokesman said.

He has been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the case, Maer said.

Veteran IMPD officer arrested for DUI at beginning of shift

By Aaron Castleman

INDIANAPOLIS - Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Bryan Neal, a ten-year veteran,  was arrested Friday evening by an IMPD supervisor for DUI and sent to the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center.

Officer Neal was arrested at the beginning of his shift around 11 p.m. at an IMPD district headquarters and faces a preliminary charge of Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated.

Officer Neal was immediately suspended without pay, and his police equipment confiscated and his police authority revoked. He will face an internal affairs investigation by IMPD’s Internal Affairs and Special Investigation Unit.

In the coming days, IMPD Chief Rick Hite will review the facts of the case and issue an employment recommendation in accordance with IMPD’s General Orders.

 The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will review the case and make a final charging decision at a later time.

 Court Date Set for Officer Charged with DUI

HARRISONBURG,Va. (WHSV)-- The former Corporal Bryan Horowitz has a hearing June 9 at 10 a.m. in Rockingham County General District Court.

According to court documents, Horowitz was arrested in Broadway, Va. on May 3, 2014 in the parking lot of Backstage Video after a Broadway police officer pulled him over for speeding.The court can suspend Horowitz's driving privileges for a year if he is convicted.

Off-duty officer arrested for DUI with child in vehicle, leaving accident scene

Written by Cami Cox Jim

CEDAR CITY – Cedar City Police responded to a one-car accident Monday evening in the parking lot of the Little League Baseball Complex, 300 E. 275 North. An initial investigation revealed the driver of the vehicle was off-duty Cedar City Police Officer Jed Prisbey Imlay. Further investigation revealed Imlay was under the influence of alcohol when he hit a decorative block wall.

“There was a child with him,” Cedar City Police Chief Bob Allinson said. “At least, that’s what was alleged at the time.”

Allinson said witnesses at the scene reported they saw a child in the vehicle with Imlay, who allegedly left the scene after colliding with the block wall. An on-duty sergeant drove to Imlay’s home and saw the damaged vehicle parked at his house. Imlay was taken into custody at his home.

“That’s when we call Highway Patrol,” Allinson said, “to get an outside agency to investigate the accident itself.”

Utah Highway Patrol was called in to the handle the crash. A statement from UHP, released Tuesday, said the Iron County Attorney will turn the case over to an outside prosecuting agency to avoid conflict of interest.

Imlay was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, a class-B misdemeanor, and driving under the influence of alcohol with a child in the vehicle, a class-A misdemeanor. He was booked into Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility on $2,213 bail.

Allinson said there was minimal damage to Imlay’s car and also minimal damage to the block wall.

Imlay posted bond and has been released from Purgatory, according to information from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office website.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Sheboygan Police Dept. releases statement on off-duty officer OWI arrests

By FOX 11 NewsPublished: June 12, 2014, 3:44 pm

SHEBOYGAN – The Sheboygan Police Department is reinforcing the seriousness of drinking and driving.

It comes after two of its off-duty officers were arrested for operating while intoxicated in December.

After a months-long investigation, one of the officers was suspended without pay for 30 days. The other was suspended for 15 days.

The department released a statement Thursday, it reads in part:

“The Sheboygan Police Department understands the importance of earning and maintaining the public’s trust. Actions by department members that damage this trust will not be tolerated. We are committed to building strong community relationships and demonstrating our trustworthiness on a daily basis.”

 Husband and Wife Cops Arrested for Drugs in San Diego

Michelle Moon

San Diego police officers, husband and wife Bryce and Jennifer Charpentier, were arrested for alleged involvement in sales, transportation, and possession of a controlled substance.

The husband has reportedly been abusing prescription drugs since an injury ended his hockey career, a source told 10 News.

Bryce is a six-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department while his wife Jennifer is an 18-year veteran. Conflicting comments about the couple’s conduct over the past few months range from withdrawn and strange, noted by the 10 News source, to quite visible within their community.

This news comes after widespread issues of police misconduct in 2011 began to erode public faith in the police department. Police Chief at the time, William Lansdowne apologized and said, "I clearly understand that this activity, conduct ... (of the) officers involved in these cases has tarnished the image of this police department." He added, "We'll work hard to repair that, but it'll take years to rebuild that relationship, I believe, between us and the community of San Diego," according to CBS8.

The day following the chief’s apology, another officer was arrested on charges of rape, assault, and kidnapping, CBS8 also eported. Ten cases of impropriety or criminal behavior among SDPD personnel were reported in the three months prior, resulting in six arrests at the time of the chief’s apology.

The U.S. Justice Department launched an investigation into the SDPD in March that is projected to last six to eight months. The investigation was requested by former SDPD Chief Landsdowne, reported Fox5 San Diego in March. The U.S. Attorney’s office and FBI are also looking into criminal activity within the department. Fox5 relayed U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy’s comments on the investigation: “The review itself will focus primarily on police misconduct overall, with an emphasis on sexual misconduct by on-duty officers.”

Shelley Zimmerman took over for Landsdowne in March of this year. Now Zimmerman faces a new case of alleged police misconduct. With a background that includes extensive investigative work and experience in the narcotics division, Zimmerman should be well-equipped to address the situation. According to ABC 10 News, she is cooperating with the Sheriff’s Department and was briefed on the situation by Sheriff Bill Gore.

Ball State officer resigns day after arrest

Eric Reffitt, 30, was arrested for criminal recklessness and public intoxication after a fracas at the Joker's Wild

Douglas Walker

MUNCIE — Eric Reffitt resigned from his job as a Ball State University police officer on Thursday, a day after he was arrested for his role in a fracas at a southside strip club.

A university spokesperson confirmed about 4:30 p.m. that Reffitt, a BSU police officer since April 2008, had resigned.

Prosecutors said they would likely decide Friday what charges would be filed in connection with an incident early Wednesday at the Joker's Wild that allegedly saw an intoxicated Reffitt wave a knife, causing minor injuries to a friend.

Both men were participants in a bachelor party at the southside tavern.

EARLIER: “You do this job, and you know you can’t act like this,” a Muncie police officer told Eric Wayne Reffitt, an off-duty Ball State University officer, during a disturbance outside a southside strip club early Wednesday.

By that point, however, the advice offered to Reffitt, 30, of rural Albany, likely came too late.

The BSU officer — whose blood-alcohol content was later measured at 0.234 percent, nearly three times the legal limit for motorists — allegedly cut a friend on the stomach and hip while waving a knife in Joker’s Wild cocktail lounge, 2206 S. Madison St.

Witnesses said Reffitt then walked across the street to the Taco Bell restaurant — at that hour serving only drive-through customers — and displayed his police ID, demanding entry.

Refitt — who was attending a bachelor party at the strip club — also reportedly was less than cooperative with on-duty officers called to the scene, allegedly threatening to shoot two of them.

He was taken to the Delaware County jail, preliminarily charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and public intoxication. He later was released after posting a $5,000 bond.

A Ball State spokesperson said Wednesday afternoon that the circumstances leading to Reffitt’s arrest were under review.

City police were called to the Taco Bell, 2201 S. Madison St., at 1:42 a.m. after employees reported a “highly intoxicated subject” was outside. A restaurant manager told officers that the man, later identified as Reffitt, “showed up outside the business and was knocking on the outer door and making a ruckus.”

“Reffitt was placing his police credentials up against the glass and yelling something about being a cop, all while talking on the phone,” according to an affidavit.

An officer wrote that Reffitt, with slurred speech and while “struggling to maintain his balance,” was “rambling on about someone starting something with him (at the Joker’s Wild).”

The tavern’s bouncer said Reffitt had shoved a bartender before leaving.

The bartender, who was acquainted with Reffitt, said the BSU officer “got upset all of a sudden, stating that two guys were trying to steal money from him, and then drew his knife and started waving it around wildly.”

Another member of the bachelor party — who repeatedly told officers he “didn’t want anything to happen to Eric” — said the BSU officer had accidentally struck him with a knife Reffitt began waving after “someone in the bar said something to Eric that got him aggravated,” the affidavit said.

An officer wrote that that man was wearing two shirts, and that Reffitt’s knife “went through both shirts and left a long scratch on (the victim’s) right abdomen and hip.”

Another officer noted two other injuries, a small cut with “fresh blood ... just above the hip bone area” and a second scratch.

“I don’t want him to get into trouble,” the victim said. “He’s just drunk.”

Outside, police said Reffitt became “extremely belligerent and acted out toward officers” before he was handcuffed.

One officer said Reffitt told him to keep two other officers away from him “or I’m going to shoot their ass.” However, the off-duty officer was found to be carrying only a folding knife, not a firearm.

Reports also reflect Reffitt at first refused to take a breath test to measure his level of intoxication, but complied after a Ball State University police sergeant arrived at the scene.

Reffitt joined the university police department in April 2008

Atlanta police officer charged with DUI

By Rhonda Cook

An Atlanta police officer is on adminsitrative leave pending an investigation into Gwinnett County charges that he was driving drunk.

Officer Daryl Vann, on the APD force for three years, was charged early Monday with DUI, speeding and improper lane change after he was pulled over just north of Pleasant Hill Road on Interstate 85, driving more than 20 miles over the speed limit, according to a report released Thursday.

According to the report, a member of the DUI Task Force saw a grey Nissan Altima weaving and speeding around 2 a.m. The Gwinnett officer followed the sedan for a while before pulling him over, the report said.

The report said Vann failed a field sobriety test — following the officer’s finger with his eyes, standing on one leg and walking heal to toe. He was given a breathalyzer later, showing a blood alcohol content of .1, which is above the.08 that state law says is legally drunk.

Vann told the officer he was rushing home after have several beers — he couldn’t remember how many.

“During the evaluation the driver asked for professional courtesy and I advised him that was not an option,” the Gwinnett officer wrote. “I advised him that I had previously arrest(ed) other officers for DUI and there was no officer discretion when it came to DUI.”

The officer said he saw Vann’s police ID as he was retrieving his driver’s license.

Sheboygan cops suspended for drunken driving

Two off-duty Sheboygan police officers who were convicted of drunken driving last month have since been been suspended without pay.

Sheboygan Police Chief Christopher Domagalski said in a news release Thursday that the suspensions were issued after the officers’ cases concluded May 28 in Sheboygan-Kohler Municipal Court.

One officer, Ryan Walloch, 25, received a 15-day suspension, while his colleague, Stephen Schnabel, 35, was suspended for 30 days, according to the release.

Municipal Court officials on Thursday refused to release information to a Sheboygan Press reporter on the outcome of the officers’ cases Thursday without a formal written public records request that would have to be approved by Municipal Judge Catherine Delahunt.

First-offense drunken driving cases typically result in a fine and license revocation.

“The Sheboygan Police Department understands the importance of earning and maintaining the public’s trust,” Domagalski said in the release. “Actions by department members that damage this trust will not be tolerated. We are committed to building strong community relationships and demonstrating our trustworthiness on a daily basis.”

The officers were arrested Dec. 5 after a late-night accident at the corner of Superior Avenue and North Taylor Drive. Both were off-duty and in their personal vehicles when one driver rear-ended the other at the blinking red light.

An arrest report showed that Walloch’s preliminary blood alcohol content was 0.10 and Schnabel’s was 0.23, both more than the legal limit of 0.08.

Both officers were cited for first-offense operating while intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration. They were placed on administrative duties following the arrest but were back on active duty several days later pending an internal investigation.

The investigation, which was completed after the court cases concluded, found that both officers had violated department rules.

The officers’ work records and the seriousness of the offense were taken into consideration when issuing the suspensions, Domagalski said.

Domagalski said both officers have expressed remorse, apologized and taken responsibility for their actions.

Denver cop's bizarre DUI bust, 2-year desk duty has chief advocating for disciplinary changes

Officer can't drive patrol car for 2 years

Alan Gathright

DENVER - A Denver Police officer's bizarre DUI arrest and his sentence resulting in two years of desk duty has Police Chief Robert White advocating for a change in departmental disciplinary rules.

The chief's concerns were highlighted by the 2013 DUI arrest of Denver Police Officer Aaron Wade Egger, who told a Thornton Police officer that a friend he only identified as "Good buddy" was driving and took off after the car crashed.

A witness called 911 in the early-morning hours of July 4 last year to report that a man driving a Black Nissan Maxima had driven up on the curb and almost hit a fence and then veered across the roadway and slammed into the other curb, according to a police report. The impact blew out the front right tire and bent back the front right fender until it was blocking the passenger door, police said.

A Thornton patrol officer arrived to find the Maxima straddling two northbound lanes of Holly Street at East 118th Avenue.

A man wearing a red shirt and shorts, later identified as Egger, was leaning on a fence on the side of the road.

The officer asked what happened and Egger replied, "Somebody hit us."

Seeing no one else around, the officer asked who was in the Maxima, and Egger replied, "Me and my buddy." Asked where his buddy was, Egger said, "He took off" and took the keys to Egger's car with him.

Yet, when the officer asked the 32-year-old Egger where he wrecked, he replied, "I hit something over there," pointing toward East 120th Avenue.

"I asked Aaron what his good buddy's name was. Aaron said, 'Good buddy,'" the police report stated.

The witness, however, said the driver was the only person in the car.

The Thornton officer's report said Egger had a strong odor of alcohol, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and he was so unsteady on his feet that he almost fell over during the field sobriety test. When the officer asked for his driver's license, Egger dug around in his wallet and handed him a credit card. 

The officer twice noted that Egger was "acting strange." He kept rigidly standing at attention "like someone in the military," despite the officer repeatedly telling him he could relax.

When the officer asked if Egger had been in the military, he replied, "Yes sir. 82nd Airborne sir."

The officer arrested Egger for DUI and patted him down, finding the Maxima keys in his pocket. Police also recovered a 12-gauge pump shotgun with 44 rounds of ammunition from Egger's car.

A breath test showed Egger had a blood-alcohol level of .201 -- more than twice the .08 threshold for being driving under the influence under state law.

In November, Egger pleaded guilty to DUI and prosecutors dismissed a careless driving charge, court records show.

With his high intoxication level, Egger was deemed a persistent drunk driver under state law.

A judge ordered Egger to use an ignition-interlock device on his car for two years, said Denver Police spokesman Cmdr. Matt Murray. A driver has to blow into the device to ensure he doesn't have an elevated alcohol level. If he does, the car won't start.

Egger was also sentenced to one year in jail, which the judge suspended, and ordered to serve one year of probation and 48 hours of community service.

After his criminal case was resolved, the police department gave Egger a 6-day suspension earlier this year.

However, the ignition-interlock requirement posed a new challenge for the police department. Officials said they would not install the device on patrol cars.

Instead, Egger had been assigned to desk duty for two years, Murray said.

"The chief is concerned about the current [discipline] system when an officer can't drive for two years and the impact that that has on the community and the police department," Murray said.

However, the department's disciplinary matrix, enacted in 2008, requires consistent punishment. So an officer can't face a more severe penalty for the same violation that officers were given in the past.

Chief White, who has long been concerned about officers who commit DUI offenses, began advocating earlier this year for a change in the disciplinary matrix, to allow the department to deal with things like ignition-interlock requirements and other changes in the law.

"It’s a bigger picture" issue than one cop's DUI, Murray said. "What's the right thing to do for the city, for the community, for the officers? We have to come up with a reasonable standard that meets the new rules and be adaptable," Murray said.