The Toronto police officer implicated in the so-called Neptune Four case drove drunk behind the wheel of a Toronto police car while off duty earlier this year, the Star has learned — the second time he has been caught drinking and driving since becoming a police officer.

Const. Adam Lourenco was pulled over by police in Bradford West Gwillimbury in May, after he sped through a 50 km/h area at 90 km/h. Smelling alcohol on Lourenco’s breath, officers administered a breathalyzer test, which registered his blood alcohol level at more than twice the legal limit.

Inside Lourenco’s car, police found a can of diet coke containing hard liquor. The vehicle was property of the Toronto police, though it was not a marked scout car.

Lourenco pleaded guilty to one count of driving with over 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (known as “over 80”). He was fined $1,100 and had his license revoked for a year.

“He recognizes that he shouldn’t be drinking anymore,” Lourenco’s lawyer told a judge in June, adding he was seeking professional help.

In the brief court appearance, neither the Crown prosecutor nor Lourenco’s lawyer told the judge the accused was a police officer.

Lourenco was briefly suspended from Toronto police service with pay. He is now on administrative duties. Both Lourenco and his lawyer, Lawrence Gridin, declined the Star’s request for a comment.

The officer is now facing two misconduct charges under Ontario’s Police Services Act in connection with the conviction — the second time drunk driving has landed Lourenco before the police tribunal.

In May, 2008, when Lourenco was working out of 32 division, the officer was found asleep at the wheel of a car stopped in the middle of the busy intersection of Victoria Park Ave. and Consumers Rd.

According to a summary of facts contained in tribunal documents, a responding officer banged on the car window for about one minute before Lourenco awoke. The car’s engine was running, and Lourenco’s foot was on the brake.

Once awake, Lourenco “appeared to be disoriented” then attempted to put the car into gear, according to the tribunal documents. Lourenco’s blood alcohol level was nearly two times the legal limit, and he was charged with impaired driving and driving “over 80.”

The criminal charges were later stayed after a Charter challenge regarding unreasonable delay. The officer was nonetheless found guilty of one count of discreditable conduct at the police disciplinary tribunal in connection to the incident.

“His judgment… put himself and others at risk and was to say the least questionable,” said hearing officer, Supt. Elizabeth Byrnes, in her decision. “The case of Const. Lourenco is the very reason that the service takes a hard stance on drinking and driving.”

Byrnes noted Lourenco had shown signs of taking responsibility for his actions, including giving lectures to officers within his division to discourage drinking and driving.

“Should Const. Lourenco put this matter behind him and continue to apply himself to his work,” Byrnes wrote, “all indications are he has significant promise.”

She sentenced him to 15 days’ forfeited pay.

In November, 2009, Lourenco was again charged with one charge of impaired driving and one charge of “over 80.” He was acquitted of these charges in 2010.

Lourenco is also facing three counts of misconduct stemming from the high-profile 2011 gunpoint arrest of four black teens, known as the Neptune Four case.

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The boys, all 16 and under, were on their way to an afterschool learning program in a public housing complex on Neptune Dr. in Lawrence Heights when they were stopped by Lourenco and Const. Sharnal Pais, both officers with the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS).

It is alleged that when one of the boys attempted to exercise his right to walk away, Lourenco threw punches and drew his gun. Backup police cruisers were called and all four boys were arrested and charged with assaulting police. The charges were later dropped.

Lourenco was charged with three counts of misconduct, including for unlawful arrest of the four teens and for pointing his gun at three of them.

The police disciplinary hearing in that case is ongoing but delayed, following a rare move by Lourenco last month to have the assigned hearing officer removed from the case.

Alleging the hearing officer recently committed misconduct himself, Lourenco filed a motion to have Toronto police Insp. Richard Hegedus removed as hearing officer on the Neptune case, arguing there is a reasonable perception he may be biased. Hegedus is Toronto police’s only full-time hearing officer.

Peter Rosenthal, the lawyer for three of the four boys said it is “very unfortunate” the Neptune Four hearing has been delayed, and called Lourenco’s drinking and driving incidents “egregious.” The officer’s misconduct charges make a good case for why a chief of police should have the ability to suspend an officer without pay pending a disciplinary hearing, he said.

“Should the disciplinary hearing conclude that dismissal from the force is not justified, the lost pay could be paid to the officer,” Rosenthal said.

A recent Toronto Star investigation found that since 2010 more than 60 officers from the Ontario Provincial Police and the five GTA police forces — Toronto, Peel, Durham, York and Halton — have been disciplined for drinking and driving at police disciplinary tribunals.

In an attempt to curb the problem, Toronto police recently disseminated a cautionary tale, via internal video, to all officers in the force. The video featured a first-hand account of an officer who had been charged with impaired driving.

“It was unlike anything we’ve done before,” said Mark Pugash, Toronto police spokesperson. “It was designed to bring home, in the most direct way, what people go through when they are charged with impaired driving.”

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca