Steph Solis and Jill Disis
An Indianapolis Metropolitan
Police Department officer was arrested Friday on preliminary drunken driving
charges in Hamilton County.
Fishers police said officer
Allen Johnson, 27, was driving his personal vehicle in Hamilton County while
intoxicated. He was arrested and taken to Hamilton County Jail.
IMPD officials said Johnson, a
5-year veteran of the department, was off-duty at the time of his arrest. He
was suspended without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
Friday's arrest was the second
time Johnson has been arrested on drunken driving charges. In November 2012,
Johnson was pulled over in a pick-up truck on Keystone Avenue near 71st Street
for speeding. According to court documents, Johnson told an officer he had
three drinks before getting in his car. Johnson failed field sobriety tests and
registered a blood-alcohol content of 0.086 percent, which is above the legal
limit to drive.
Court records show Johnson was
found guilty in that case of one count of operating a vehicle while
intoxicated, and was placed on probation. IMPD spokesman Chris Wilburn said
Friday he did not know any details about the outcome of any internal
investigation in that case.
"As a department we are
very disappointed right now," Lloyd Crowe, IMPD assistant chief, said in a
statement after Johnson's second arrest. "We expect our officers to have
better decision making skills both on-duty and off-duty. We will continue to
ensure our officers have the resources available to address stress-related
issues that come with a career in law enforcement, but we will not accept
behavior that puts our community at risk."
Since Johnson has not been
formally charged, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office had no other
information available Friday afternoon, including Johnson's blood-alcohol
content at the time of his arrest. OWI charges are used when a person drives a
vehicle while registering a blood-alcohol content of at least 0.08 percent.
It's unclear what Johnson's
standing with IMPD will be after his internal investigation. Department policy
recommends a suspension for officers who are arrested on OWI charges while
driving a personally owned vehicle. A second such offense, however, can be
grounds for dismissal.
Johnson is the latest in a
string of IMPD officers charged with drunken driving.
On May 18, officer Edward
Zehner was pulled over in New Palestine after one of the town's officers saw
him driving erratically. Zehner registered a blood-alcohol concentration of
0.16 percent. Sgt. Kendale Adams, an IMPD spokesman, said Zehner served a
30-day suspension and is back on duty.
IMPD officer Bryan Neal, a
patrolman on the late shift, was arrested June 6 after police said he was
visibly drunk and had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit
when he arrived at work.
IMPD Capt. Mark Rice was
arrested on June 22 by Indianapolis International Airport Police after an
officer saw him driving onto the median of an I-465 exit ramp, according to a
probable cause affidavit. Court documents said Rice registered a blood-alcohol
content of about 0.09.
Kevin Edward Brown, who worked
at IMPD for 16 years, quit after he was arrested for the second time on drunken
driving charges last week. On July 28, Brown was arrested after he drove
through a White Castle drive-through while apparently intoxicated and turned on
his emergency lights, according to court documents.
