Drunken cop gets suspension, no DUI ticket

A Scottsdale police officer who drove drunk from a club and was found in his car parked next to a police station received internal discipline instead of a ticket, department records show.

Officer Gareth Braxton-Johnson was suspended for 80 hours without pay after he drove his sport utility vehicle from Next, 7111 E. Fifth Ave., to the south Scottsdale station at 3700 N. 75th St. late last year while off duty, an internal affairs report states.

Braxton-Johnson, a department employee since October 1999, told officers he was drunk and recorded a .174 blood-alcohol content reading when given a Breathalyzer test, the report said.

Whether Braxton-Johnson — or any citizen caught by police drunk while parked — should have been cited for DUI is a legal gray area, experts said.

Kevin Hays, prosecutor for Mesa, said someone in that situation could get arrested for DUI because "it was clear they were intoxicated. But whether the driver was in control would be played out in court."

"The focus would be on things like if the car was parked or was it stopped in the middle of an intersection, was the engine running or not running, were the keys in the ignition or not. The more factors there are indicating the person was in control of the car the less likely they are to have a successful defense. If they are parked with the keys out of the ignition it’d be more likely they’d prevail at trial," he said. "There is case law that says that if the person pulls off the road and shows an intent to cease driving and sleep it off, they can be found not guilty of DUI."

At about 2:45 a.m. Dec. 15, officers at the station saw a vehicle parked near the entrance of the jail. Officer Theresa Ferrer knocked on the window because she could not see who was inside.

"The engine was running. I noticed what appeared to be vomit down the driver side door. I knocked on the driver side back window. The engine was turned off," Ferrer wrote in a supplement.

Ferrer saw "what appeared to be vomit down his left shoulder and arm," she wrote. Braxton-Johnson had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and an odor of alcohol in his breath, the report said.

Braxton-Johnson said he was at the station to see another officer, Jimmy McDonough, who was not there.

Hill asked Braxton-Johnson if he felt intoxicated, to which he answered "yes." Hill then had Braxton-Johnson park his vehicle. Braxton-Johnson told Lt. Matt Roadifer he went to the station because "I didn’t know where else to go," the report said. The police did not see him driving and a DUI investigation was not conducted, the report said.

Roadifer had Braxton-Johnson blow into an analyzer and he registered a .174 bloodalcohol content at 3:20 a.m., the report said. In Arizona, the legal limit while driving is .08 and extreme DUI begins at .15.

Braxton-Johnson was sent home in a cab and told not to work that day, the report said. He was scheduled to work at noon.

"He was parked, the engine was not running at the best of my knowledge, it was the decision made that the individual had taken safe haven," Police Chief Alan Rodbell said.

Braxton-Johnson was "treated differently" because his employers took action against him, Rodbell said. The law enforcement industry holds its employees accountable beyond if they were charged with a crime, he said.

"We’re one of the few employers that take administrative action against people that do those things in an offduty capacity," he said. "Was this something that was cleaned up or covered up? Absolutely not."

Officers would not have cited a civilian in the same situation — police would have probably called the civilian a cab, said Sgt. Mark Clark, a police spokesman.

"In this case, there were many conversations with the officers, commanders, supervisors, city attorneys, to decide if criminal charges were to be filed or not," he said. "We investigated it and handed out severe discipline to the police officer."

He said 80 hours is the maximum amount of suspension time given out.

"This is not about the police department giving special treatment, this officer was given the same considerations and he was afforded the same rights as any other citizen," Clark said.

Scottsdale prosecutor Caron Close said people have been ticketed for DUI while inside their parked cars, depending on the circumstances.

"The Legislature has given people the ability, if you will, to recognize when they can’t drive, to pull over, shut off the car and use it as a safe haven and not be guilty of DUI because they made that correct choice," she said.

Braxton-Johnson’s record included a previous 80-hour suspension for failing to record overtime honestly from 2001 and a 5 percent pay reduction for six months for a policy violation and failure to secure equipment in 2003, according to the suspension letter.

His record also includes two awards for superior fitness in 2001 and several positive letters from civilians, Clark said. In 2002, Braxton-Johnson received letters for his dedication and compassion in handling a crime and his investigation of a burglary, and in 2004, he received letters for teaching at the department’s citizen academy, having a caring attitude and being professional, he said.

Earlier this year, police said, the officer stopped Michael Scott Hershberger, 40, who was found to have a concealed .22-caliber pistol with a silencer, containers with black powder and a cylinder wrapped in a rag in his backpack.