Officers Arrest Liquor Agent Twice In One Night On Suspicion Of Dui
A state liquor control agent was arrested twice in one night and jailed on drunken-driving charges by officers from the Police Department here.
The added twist: The agent already is suing officers from the department over an earlier incident involving alcohol.
James McDonald, 40, arrested twice within a four-hour period Sunday, is on desk duty pending further investigation, state Liquor Control Board spokeswoman Gigi Zenk said.
McDonald told police he had only one drink and that was at a restaurant owned by his girlfriend’s family.
His lawyer, Richard Wooster, said the arrests raise suspicion “given the agency that’s involved.”
Susan Sampson, a lawyer for officers being sued by McDonald, said the arrests bolster police claims that McDonald was drunk when he was detained by two undercover detectives, one wearing a balaclava-style mask, outside a nightclub in December 1996.
McDonald sued the municipality, saying he was on duty at the time and thought the officers were robbers. Two officers filed a countersuit accusing McDonald of malicious prosecution and intentional defamation.
A federal judge dismissed most of McDonald’s charges against the city in November. The issue of whether it was reasonable for one officer to be wearing a ski mask is scheduled for a jury trial March 16, and the countersuit will be heard at the same time, Sampson said.
Police gave this account of the two arrests Sunday:
An officer noticed a red Porsche “sliding out of control” as it pulled out of a driveway about 1:30 a.m. McDonald flunked most of a series of sobriety tests, including a recitation of the alphabet, and was arrested.
At the police station, he registered .156 and .144 percent blood alcohol on two breath tests, well over the legal threshold of .10 for driving under the influence.
McDonald was cited and released just before 3 a.m.
About 4:30 a.m., someone called emergency dispatchers from his house and said, “Oh my God, Jim McDonald, he…,” before hanging up.
Officers arrived in time to see McDonald drive up and took him to the station again, where his breath tests registered .117 and .108.