Liam Ridgewell_Lake Oswego Court.JPG

Portland Timbers defender Liam Ridgewell (right) appears in Lake Oswego City Hall with his attorney Sean Riddell on Dec. 7, 2016 for a court hearing to suppress evidence related to an October 2016 crash involving a teammate.

(Everton Bailey Jr./The Oregonian)

The city of Lake Oswego will drop its drunken driving case against Portland Timbers' captain Liam Ridgewell after a judge agreed last month to suppress evidence.



City Attorney Jerry Seeberger said Wednesday it would have been difficult to move forward given Judge William Bruce Shepley's ruling that the traffic stop of Ridgewell in October wasn't supported by probable cause or reasonable suspicion.

Ridgewell faced charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants and refusing a breath test.

"We're disappointed, but we respect the judge's decision and acting in accordance to that," Seeberger said.



Defense attorney Sean Riddell said he and his client have no comment.



In a written opinion, the judge said the city failed to prove that the two Lake Oswego police officers who stopped Ridgewell, 32, believed he committed any crimes. Also, the city couldn't disprove that one of the officers gave Ridgewell the impression he could call someone to drive him home if he consented to field sobriety tests.



The stop began when Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson rear-ended another car near Pilkington Road and Willow Lane. Police said he called Ridgewell for help. Ridgewell was driving home after an outing with Gleeson. Ridgewell told police he saw the goalkeeper had crashed his BMW and pulled over.

The driver Gleeson rear-ended left the scene before police arrived.

Audio and dash-cam video played in court during a Dec. 7 hearing shows Officer James Euscher telling a supervisor about three minutes after arriving that he didn't think Ridgewell witnessed the crash and planned to send him home. But the officer testified that didn't happen because the supervisor told him to help another officer question Gleeson at the scene.



Ridgewell waited around and was questioned for about another 10 minutes when Euscher asked him to perform an eye test to determine if he could drive home. Ridgewell agreed to take the test. Both soccer players were arrested afterward.



Ridgewell's attorneys contended that once Euscher said he intended to send Ridgewell on his way, police should have made it clear that Ridgewell could leave. Ridgewell's attorneys successfully argued that all evidence gathered should be suppressed.



Gleeson, 26, pleaded no contest in November to driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless driving. He also pleaded guilty to refusing to take a breath test. He entered a one-year alcohol diversion program.





-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey