A Polk County sheriff’s deputy was arrested for DUI on December 31, when he was found passed out behind the wheel of his idling Jeep. One of our Washington DUI attorneys recently represented two defendants in cases that were similar. Incredibly, one of our clients was actually stopped on North-bound I-5 just north of the University District.
According to the officer’s report, the driver was passed out while the car was in drive but their foot was on the brake. In the other case, the client was alleged to have been sleeping in his car while it was running at a four-way intersection. According to the Washington DUI arrest report, the passenger was also asleep, and it took several minutes for the responding officers to wake both people.
In the Polk County, Florida case, Deputy James Pruitt, 37, was booked into the county Jail for suspicion of DUI. He refused a breathalyzer and was reported to have failed the field sobriety tests. Pruitt, who was hired as a sheriff’s deputy in 1994, is currently suspended without pay, until the investigation of the DUI is completed.