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Deputy stopped, not arrested after drinking, driving (WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX)

USTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF ^ | Tuesday, February 22, 2005 | By Melissa Ludwig

Posted on by Arrowhead1952

By Melissa Ludwig

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Police say they couldn't legally prove deputy was intoxicated in Feb. 6 incident

ROUND ROCK  An off-duty Williamson County sheriff's deputy stopped by police this month smelled of alcohol, but was not arrested because he refused a field sobriety test and officers could not prove he was legally drunk, according to police reports.

Deputy Craig Ferguson was driving home from Hooters in Round Rock, where he drank a "couple of pitchers" of beer and hung out with lieutenants and other "high on the hog" personnel, when Sgt. Nathan Zoss noticed him weaving in a black Toyota Tacoma on Louis Henna Boulevard, the police reports show.

The officer called the deputy's supervisors to the scene and an internal affairs investigation into his actions is ongoing, said John Foster, a spokesman for the department. Foster said investigators will interview other department employees who were at Hooters.

Foster said Ferguson could not comment while the investigation is pending.

The police reports and a video from Zoss' patrol car obtained through the Texas Public Information Act detail what happened after Zoss pulled Ferguson into the parking lot of a Target store about 12:30 a.m. Feb. 6.

When Ferguson pulled out his driver's license, Zoss saw his badge and discovered he was a sheriff's deputy. Zoss could smell alcohol on Ferguson's breath and asked him to step out of the truck and take field sobriety tests, such as standing on one leg and walking in a straight line.

The video shows Ferguson stumble as he got out of the car, and officers ask him to submit to a field sobriety test.

"I'm not going to do any of that," Ferguson told the officer.

Zoss later wrote in his report that without the deputy's cooperation, he did not think he had enough proof that Ferguson was legally drunk. At that point, he called Ferguson's supervisors.

When Sgts. Sharif Mezayek and Patrick Erickson arrived, Ferguson told them he drank "a couple of pitchers" of beer at Hooters. They told him to take the sobriety test, but he continued to refuse.

On the video, Zoss tells other officers that if Ferguson were a civilian, he could call someone to take him home, or arrest him for traffic violations. But the jail might refuse a prisoner with minor charges, Zoss said.

Officers treated Ferguson "just like any other citizen," said Round Rock officer Eric Poteet, a spokesman for the department.

"In fact, he was held to an even higher standard," Poteet said. "In a case where there is not probable cause to arrest, we do not call someone's employer."

When law enforcement officials suspect someone is driving drunk, they must observe enough clues  stumbling, slurred speech, the smell of alcohol  to establish probable cause. That allows an officer to make an arrest, said Chris Heaton, president of the Texas Municipal Police Association.

"If he doesn't have the cooperation of the person and doesn't have enough visual, verbal and other clues to have probable cause, then it is a judgment call from the officer's standpoint," Heaton said.

Heaton said state law does not allow the officer to confiscate a driver's license for refusing to take a field sobriety test. Officers can take away a license if the driver refuses a breath test, but only after probable cause has been established, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

During the traffic stop, Round Rock officers did not take Ferguson's license. Instead, Zoss issued Ferguson two traffic citations for stopping in the wrong place and disregarding traffic control devices and allowed Ferguson's wife to drive him home.

On the video, Zoss complains that Ferguson's behavior put officers in a tough spot.

"You put us in a difficult situation here," Zoss said to Ferguson. "You're not getting any break. Our agency doesn't do that and yours doesn't either. The law is the law, and we are pretty solid on all that."

Ferguson, according to police reports, sat on the curb and lamented that his sergeant told him not to go out that night:

"I knew I shouldn't have gone out tonight," Ferguson said, according to police reports written by Round Rock police officers. "I'm in so much trouble. My wife is going to kill me."

In Heaton's opinion, calling Ferguson's supervisors showed that Round Rock police did not give him any breaks because he is a fellow lawman.

"If he refuses to cooperate, he could end up losing his career," Heaton said. "If he is charged with DWI, that could be career-ending as well."



TOPICS:

Crime/Corruption

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US: Texas

KEYWORDS:

cops

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leo

This is highly unusual for Williamson County Law Enforcement to let a DWI go, even though it was another officer. Looks like "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine" deal. Hold my Hooters beer pitchers alert.



To: Arrowhead1952

Kinky will clean up this mess.



To: Arrowhead1952

So weaving in your vehicle, smelling of alcohol and admitting to drinking a couple pitchers of beer is not enough probable cause for a Breathalyzer test? Here in Michigan, if you refuse the Breathalyzer, they take your license, haul you off to jail and get a warrant to take your blood.



by 3 posted onby wmichgrad ("The man is insane. He has lost his mind" Rush Limbaugh 1/28/05 re: Sen. Kennedy's remarks on Iraq)

To: Arrowhead1952

I have a nephew with a heavy right foot who also happens to be in the Highway Patrol. Whenever he is stopped for speeding, he presents his driver's license that bears his photo in uniform and wearing his Smoky-the-Bear hat. For some reason, he never gets a ticket. I cannot figure it out.



To: Arrowhead1952

Crookedness is more blatant with the POWERFUL than the powerless.



To: battlegearboat; MeekOneGOP; maeng; ValerieUSA; txflake; WinOne4TheGipper; DrewsDad; HiJinx; ...

Williamson county DWI deputy ping....



by 6 posted onby Arrowhead1952 ("I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for," - Howard Dean 01/29/2005)

To: wmichgrad

Williamson County is just north of Austin and is the antithesis of Travis county in every way. I remember after the elections in Nov., seeing a pic of Texas with the countys designated red or blue. Travis County, Austin, was red and floating in an ocean of blue. I was in Georgetown,Tx.( Williamson County ) last Thanksgiving and headed home to Houston on I-35. I had been on 35 for no more than a couple of minutes when I was pulled over by a County Cop. He READ ME THE RIOT ACT for changing lanes without signalling. THAT is Williamson County.



by 7 posted onby MAWG (Diversity is where everyone looks different but thinks the same way.)

To: Arrowhead1952

Anybody really surprised by this?



To: Arrowhead1952

I pulled off I-10 recently and noticed two cars in front of me. A Florida State Trooper, and another car in front of him. I noticed the first car only slowed for the stop sign. My first thought was, "how stupid can you get". Then the trooper did the exact same thing. No he didn't stop the first driver.



To: Arrowhead1952

We had a police officer here who was chased on his crotch rocket for miles at speeds up to 130 Miles per hour. He didnt even get a speeding ticket out of it. I guess they called it a training excercise or something. If it hadnt been for citizens and their scanners it would have never been known.



Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: Arrowhead1952

Why is this news. It would really be newsworthy if an officer were arrested for this. They were, however, really "tough" on him by not letting him drive home.



To: Arrowhead1952





by 13 posted onby pageonetoo (Denny Crane: "There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News.")

To: Arrowhead1952

Good 'ole boy network lives in Williamson County. Last year the Sherriff was caught walking(stumbling) along a busy street and taking a piss in someones front yard. Of course they just gave him a ride home. He was later fired though.



To: wmichgrad

"Here in Michigan, if you refuse the Breathalyzer, they take your license, haul you off to jail and get a warrant to take your blood." They didn't get to the point of telling him he had to take a breathalyzer. He refused the "road sobriety tests," which are not mandatory. For instance, if the Officer told him to "stand on one leg," do the "ABCs", "walk a straight line," or other such tests to determine motor controls or speech impairment, the Deputy can refuse, and you can too. Had the Officer arrested the Deputy, then the Deputy would have had to take the breathalyzer. Laws may differ from State to State, but I am not aware of any State that requires a driver to perform a RST. And there may be differing threshholds under which a person can be required to give a breathalyzer. In many states, the person has to be arrested first.



by 15 posted onby Enterprise (President Bush thought Wead was a friend. Turns out he was just a big fat tape worm.)

To: Wolfie

not a bit; I am sure it happens every day.



To: Arrowhead1952

Kinda like Pittsburgh,Pa. and the North Hills of said 'Burg,..a judge gets THREE DUI's...drops his pants in public...gives his BMW to a valet parking attendant and is drunk on the job....Justice of the Peace shears off a telephone pole after leaving the bar(50yds. away) and 100yds. away from the local PD. barn(Sat.night). Results??? Judge retires with honor...JP...back on the job Monday A.M. passing judgement on DUI. cases. If it happened to anyone else......



To: Arrowhead1952

In Ma. They always ask you to take the breath test. If you refuse it is a automatic 90 day suspension of your license.

I was pinched for DUI 29 years ago, If I refuse I lose it for 1 year.



To: Arrowhead1952

Can you say "professional curtesy"?



To: Enterprise

" Laws may differ from State to State, but I am not aware of any State that requires a driver to perform a RST."



But if any civilian were to refuse he would be placed under arrest immediately, and probable cause would be manufactured if it was established later that he wasn't actually drunk.



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