Clearwater police Sgt. Jay Holsombach was on patrol the night of Jan. 23 when a silver Nissan with its headlights off sped down Drew Street at more than 60 mph.

As he pulled onto the road to stop the Nissan just after 1 a.m., the car continued east, this time speeding at 90 mph and running a red light at Belcher Road. Holsombach turned his emergency lights off when the car slowed down and pulled into the parking lot of St. Petersburg College's Clearwater Campus.

Holsombach approached the car with his gun drawn. Another officer arrived and handcuffed the woman with slurred speech and an unsteady gait.

While searching her car, Holsombach found a Pinellas sheriff's badge in a purse. The driver, Jessica Nascimento, told them she was a deputy.

"Bob Gualtieri, my sheriff, is going to fire me," she said in the back of a cruiser.

Instead of conducting a DUI investigation, Holsombach cited her for reckless driving, a criminal traffic charge, according to internal affairs records released to the Tampa Bay Times. The officers called a taxicab.

A violation of "neglect of duty" was sustained against Holsombach, a 19-year veteran with the department, and he was suspended in March for two days.

Nascimento, who was off duty at the time of the traffic stop, resigned while under investigation earlier this year. She told investigators she drank four beers at a downtown Clearwater bar that night before driving.

"Upon the review of the case, we're not talking about a case where he swept it under the rug," said Clearwater police Chief Dan Slaughter, pointing to the fact that Holsombach did charge the deputy. "It wasn't like he tried to hide it, which would have been very severe in my mind."

Records provide this time line of the moments after the traffic stop:

As Nascimento sat in the back of a cruiser, an in-car camera recorded Officer Daniel Loder questioning her. He read her Miranda rights, told her she showed "signs of impairment" and asked for a breath sample to determine her alcohol level. She declined.

Moments later, Holsombach approached the car and pulled Loder aside.

Holsombach told Nascimento that he was extending her a "professional courtesy" in not taking her to jail and that he was going to give her a citation for reckless driving. She would have to appear in court at a later date. The officers called a taxi for her.

The traffic stop came to light at the Clearwater department when Pinellas Sheriff's Office investigators inquired about any video related to the incident.

In his interview with investigators, Holsombach said he did not agree with Loder asking for a breath test before conducting a field sobriety test, adding that the officer hadn't established enough probable cause yet, so he took charge of the investigation, records state.

Holsombach said he detected a "fruity aesthetic smell," but wasn't sure it could have been alcohol. "I also got her out of the car after that and to try to look for some further indicators, which I wasn't finding," he told investigators.

He concluded Nascimento may have been suffering from a medical issue related to blood sugar. But during her internal affairs interview, neither Nascimento nor her attorney ever mentioned any medical conditions.

Holsombach could not be reached for comment Monday. Slaughter, the Clearwater police chief, said Holsombach, hired in 1997, has a "very good, solid reputation" as an officer.

He had never been previously suspended at the department.

Nascimento's reckless driving charge is pending, Pinellas court records show. Hired by the Sheriff's Office in 1999, her most recent evaluation shows she had been assigned to the agency's court processing section for the past three years.

This is not the first time Nascimento, who could not be reached for comment Monday, has been stopped by police. In 2003, she was arrested on a DUI charge in Pinellas Park. Her blood alcohol level measured 0.16, twice the legal limit at which Florida presumes impairment. She was suspended for five days.

Contact Laura C. Morel at lmorel@tampabay.com. Follow @lauracmorel.