A Civil Service Commission hearing officer has reduced a 90-day suspension to 14 days for a Denver police detective who was allegedly drunk when he ran his motorcycle into a pole while he was off duty.

The City will appeal the decision, said Assistant City Attorney Andrea Kershner.

Michael Lemmons, 52, lost control of his bike and slid into the pole on 38th Street at Arkins Court about 1:20 a.m. on Feb. 11, 2010.

At a hearing of his appeal in February, a member of the police DUI unit told hearing officer Susan Eckert that he “smelled a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath,” when he contacted Lemmons as he lay on a gurney in the emergency room.’

The officer asked him to take a blood test that could have shown if he was intoxicated, telling him that if he refused, he would lose his drivers license for at least a year.

But the Denver District Attorney’s Office refused to prosecute, saying a conviction would be unlikely. And when the DUI officer, Cpl. Danny Dunn, failed to appear at a Division of Motor Vehicles hearing on the license revocation, Lemmons was able to keep his license.

Dunn didn’t go to the hearing because he said he didn’t receive a subpoena or a notice that it was scheduled and didn’t know about it, he said at Lemmons’ appeal hearing.

Eckert found that Lemmons was slightly impaired by alcohol but said there was no proof that he met the legal definition of driving under the influence, which calls for a driver to be substantially incapable to safely operate a vehicle. “The 90 day suspension is not appropriate and instead a 14 day suspension is appropriate,” she wrote.

Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com