California Highway Patrol arrests Sacramento Officer for DUI

Sacramento, CA - Nearly every week we report about police officers who receive DUI citations or arrests. We do so for several reasons.

First, it shows that police are human beings too and are susceptible to, and regularly break the same laws that the ordinary, non-criminal citizen does. Second, it is actually a positive thing in our view when police officers arrest one of their own. It indicates that they are applying the law evenly and fairly. Many skeptics believe that most police officers stopped for DUI are let off without an arrest as a professional curtsey. We report cases like this to illustrate that this isn't the case.

This most recent report comes out of Sacramento, where the California Highway Patrol arrested Sacramento Police Officer Keith Hughes for drunk driving. The arrest came after witnesses reported his car along a high traffic portion of Hazel Avenue in Sacramento. The vehicle was in drive, and Officer Hughes was asleep behind the wheel.

The fire department responded because of the threat of a medical emergency, but when the fire personnel observed him, they suspected that his unconsciousness was caused by alcohol intoxication. That is when they called the police.

Under California DUI law, a person doesn't have to be driving to be arrested for DUI. A law called "actual physical control" allows police to arrest a suspected drunk driver if they are behind the wheel, even when passed out.

"When an agency other than the police is first on the scene and calls the police, there is a higher probability that the police will arrest one of their own," said Oregon DUII lawyer, Bart Herron.

"Any time you are dealing with more than one agency, whether its two police departments, or police and fire, it just increases the likelihood that everybody involved will do the right thing added Florida criminal defense lawyer John Musca. "Multiple reports from multiple agencies tend to act as a balancing factor."

The Sacramento Police Department will conduct their own investigation of Officer Hughes and determine the appropriate sanction separate from the criminal DUI case that he will now face. If convicted, or if he loses his license to the California, it will make it difficult to carry out his duties as a police officer. But like everybody who gets a DUI when nobody gets hurt, there is a strong argument that Officer Hughes deserves the benefit of the doubt and a second chance. For now, he will be treated like any other California DUI defendant, and will have to go through the justice system in Sacramento County.


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Sacramento Cop Accused Of DUI

A Sacramento police officer has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, the California Highway Patrol said Tuesday.
Officer Christopher Hughes, 39, was booked over the weekend, CHP Officer Lizz Dutton said.
Dutton said the case was reported as a medical emergency Saturday afternoon at Hazel Avenue and Piedra Way.
Hughes' vehicle was spotted in a lane of the road and he slumped over the steering wheel, Dutton said.
When CHP officers responded, they found Hughes was found to be intoxicated, the CHP said.
Sacramento police Sgt. Norm Leong confirmed the arrest and said the department is conducting an administrative investigation.


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