Chandler police officer resigns after being charged with extreme DUI

A son of late Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever resigned as an officer from the Chandler Police Department after he was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk with a blood-alcohol level of .31, according to disciplinary records released Tuesday.

Larry Dever died in 2012 when his pickup truck crashed on a forest road on his way to a hunting trip with one of his sons.

An autopsy showed the sheriff had been drinking at the time and had an alcohol level of .29, which is more than three times the legal limit of .08 when a driver is presumed too drunk to drive.

Garrett Dever, 39, the sheriff's son, has been charged with extreme DUI and other related counts, according to Gilbert Municipal Court records. His next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5.

Dever resigned from the Chandler Police Department on June 20, 2017, according to the disciplinary documents. He had been previously suspended for four days without pay for misconduct related to his wife's case. Former Tempe police officer Jessica Dever-Jakusz was convicted in 2015 for hindering prosecution and was subsequently sentenced to probation.

The documents were released by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, which is in charge of certifying peace officers statewide.

During a Wednesday meeting, the board tabled his case for a later date because members wanted more details before taking action on his certification. Chandler police had reported his arrest to the board.

Dever on Tuesday declined to comment for this story.

According to the documents citing a Gilbert police report, Dever was involved in a single-vehicle collision on Pecos Road between Recker Road and Ranch House Parkway.

The police report says that Dever, who identified himself as "Bruce" when police talked to him at the scene, had denied drinking any alcohol. He was driving east on Pecos when his vehicle went over a median barrier, striking a pole that fell onto the road, the documents say.

Witnesses later told police that Dever ran from the scene to a nearby dirt lot and left something there. Officers later found an empty bottle of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, the documents say. Police say they also found an empty bottle of Jim Beam in the center console of his vehicle.

A preliminary test showed the former officer had a blood alcohol content of .31, the documents say.

Garrett Dever was hired by the Chandler Police Department in 2002 after working two years for the Mohave County Sheriff's Office.

He had been previously suspended by Chandler Police Department for four days. His suspension was for using a police database to look up information on a man his wife had been having an affair with.

In that case, Dever-Jackusz resigned from the Tempe Police Department after she was investigated for and later convicted of, tipping off a drug suspect with whom she was romantically involved in 2013. She voluntarily gave up her certification in February 2014 and was sentenced to 18 months of probation the following year.

READ MORE:

2 people shot near downtown Chandler, police say

What we know about Kevin Hart's extortion and cheating scandal

Rep. Raul Grijalva arrested while protesting outside Trump Tower in New York City