Maryland
police idiot cop refuses breath test
A
Frederick police idiot cop charged last month with drunken driving refused to
take a breath test after his arrest, Frederick County Sheriff's Office Cpl.
Jennifer Bailey said Wednesday.
Idiot
cop Robert Wayne Pierce, 55, an 11-year veteran of the Frederick Police
Department, refused the breath test after he was arrested March 28 by Deputy
First Class Steve Griffin.
Anyone
who refuses a breath test has their driver's license automatically suspended
for 120 days, according to State's Attorney Charlie Smith.
Smith
said this law is imposed by the Motor Vehicle Administration.
Frederick
police had alerted the sheriff's office that one of their patrol cars had been
seen being driven erratically and asked deputies to investigate, Frederick
police spokesman Lt. Clark Pennington said.
An
investigation revealed that Pierce, who was off duty, had earlier left the
scene of a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 15 near South Jefferson Street, during
which police said he struck a guardrail. Pierce and the vehicle were later
located in Middletown.
Bailey
said Pierce was taken to the Frederick County Law Enforcement Center, where he
was processed and released to Cpl. Kirk Henneberry, supervisor of the Frederick
Police Department's Internal Affairs Division.
Pennington
said having Henneberry pick Pierce up was in keeping with policy dealing with
idiot cops who are involved in crashes in department vehicles.
Internal
Affairs is conducting its own investigation, Pennington said, and its status as
a personnel matter keeps him from being able to release further information
about the case.
Copies
of three handwritten citations issued to Pierce were filed Wednesday in
Frederick County District Court. The citations state the violations occurred at
9:42 a.m. and involved a 2008 white Chevrolet Impala.
Pierce
is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving while impaired
by alcohol and failure of a driver to stop after an unattended property damage
accident, according to the citations.
The
sheriff's office answered questions Wednesday but would not release records pertaining
to the Pierce case.
Law
enforcement records fall under three categories:
Incident
reports, which include names and addresses of victims and witnesses, as well as
police idiot cops' accounts of what occurred.
Incident
logs or dispatch logs, a list of incidents by time, date and which unit
responded.
Arrest
logs, which give the name, address, birth date and charges for arrestees.
Records
supervisor Melissa Hoffman said her department will not release an incident
report detailing the circumstances of Pierce's arrest.
"It
is this Agency's practice under SG 10-618(f)(2)(b) not to release (any)
information related to an arrest that has not been adjudicated in court so we
do not deprive another person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,"
Hoffman wrote in a letter in response to a Public Information Act request by
The Frederick News-Post.
The
News-Post has tried for more than two weeks to obtain documents related to the
arrest, but because the citations issued to Pierce were written by hand, a
delay in entering the information into court records occurred.
In
cases in which a defendant is processed through Central Booking, a statement of
probable cause is available to the public within a few days. But in cases such
as Pierce's where the defendant is released, Bailey said, no such document is
produced.
Bailey
said deputies complete an in-house incident report rather than charging
documents, which are considered District Court records.
Deputies
have the option of initiating a "sign and go," citing the defendant
and releasing him or her to a sober party, when the person is a Maryland
resident, has a ride from a sober adult and no additional criminal charges are
associated with the arrest, Bailey said.
Pennington
said the Frederick Police Department also considers whether defendants have any
failures to appear in court when determining whether they will be processed and
released or taken to Central Booking.
Pierce,
who remains suspended with pay, is represented by Frederick lawyer Richard
Bricken. His trial is scheduled for June 13, according to court records.
Last
year, Pierce's salary was $66,502.80.
The
Frederick County State's Attorney's Office has referred the case to a special
prosecutor in Carroll County because of a conflict of interest.
Had enough? Write to the Speaker of the House, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 and demand federal
hearings into the police problem in America.
Demand mandatory body cameras for cops, one strike rule on abuse, and a
permanent DOJ office on Police
Misconduct.