MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI - A former sheriff's deputy who got a second chance at his job after being arrested for being "super drunk" is facing trial for damaging a car to which he is accused of attaching a grocery cart.

Dennis Robert Smith

Dennis Robert Smith of North Muskegon, who was the subject of controversy in 2015 when he was given a ride home following his drunk driving arrest, no longer works for the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department, said Sheriff Steve Kempker.

Smith allegedly gouged a woman's car in the Meijer parking lot in Muskegon Township and then attached a grocery cart to a door handle using a "Zip Tie" plastic cable, said Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat. The incident occurred on Aug. 26, 2016, at the Meijer located at 1800 Holton Road.

There apparently had been an "altercation" between Smith and others he was with and the woman prior to damage being inflicted to her car, Maat said. Smith and the woman did not know each other, he said.

Maat declined to give details about the altercation.

Smith has been charged with malicious destruction of property between $200 and $1,000 and faces a jury trial before Muskegon County District Judge Harold Closz at 9 a.m. April 26.

Smith made headlines in 2015 after he was arrested by Muskegon Police at 2:30 a.m. May 1 of that year and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.17 or more, which is known as "super drunk."

Then Muskegon County Sheriff Dean Roesler said policies at the Muskegon jail were broken when one of his deputies drove Smith home less than two hours after his arrest. Roesler said Smith should not have been released as early as he was because jail policy was to require those older than 21 to remain in jail until their blood alcohol drops below 0.08.

Following his September 2015 sentencing to probation on the super drunk charge, Smith was suspended without pay for 30 days from his job as a corrections officer for Ottawa County. Then Ottawa County Sheriff Gary A. Rosema said Smith also was given a "last chance agreement" to keep his job.