Wed., April 28, 2010

Deputy who refused tests charged with DUI

Photographed through the glass doors of Spokane County District Court, Spokane County Sheriff's Deputy Darin Schaum,on right confers with lawyer Dallas Cooney, left, before pleading not guilty Wed. April 28, 2010 to drunken driving. COLIN MULVANY colinm@spokesman.com (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

A Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy who refused a breath test after being stopped by Spokane Valley police pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a drunken driving charge.

Darin M. Schaum, 36, was described as “highly intoxicated” when Officer Todd Miller stopped his Dodge truck on Broadway Avenue west of McDonald Road about 1:30 a.m. on April 16, according to documents filed this week in Spokane County District Court.

Miller said Schaum identified himself as a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy and said he could find a ride to his home just down the street and that it “was going to cost Schaum his job if (police) didn’t allow him to go,” according to court documents.

Read the rest of my story here.

Past coverage: Deputy faces license suspension

Posted April 28, 2010, 11:49 a.m.