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Water, sewer director receives suspension following DUI charge
By Sharon Hall
Lumpkin County Water & Sewer Authority Board of Directors voted unanimously Monday to suspend authority director Dudley Owens after learning he was charged in Forsyth County for failure to maintain a lane and DUI on July 11.
Owens was stopped on his way home from a meeting with Environmental Protection Division officials while driving a county vehicle.
Owens faces 30 days suspension without pay, effective Aug. 11. In addition, he will be required to undergo evaluation and counseling at his own expense, submit to random drug testing at the board's discretion and will not be allowed to drive a county vehicle. He will, however, be allowed to drive vehicles belonging to the water & sewer authority while performing the duties of his job. In addition, should there be a repeat offense, Owens would automatically be terminated, the board voted.
Owens was stopped on Georgia 400 northbound by a Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy after his vehicle “crossed the lines on both sides of the vehicle several times,” the incident report states.
Owens admitted having a glass of red wine with dinner, but said he was checking his day-planner when he was stopped.
Owens submitted willingly to a field sobriety check, but was arrested when he failed to satisfy the officer that he was sober. When asked to visually follow a pen held in front of his eyes, Owens would “not keep his head still or he would anticipate the direction the pen would travel,” the deputy's report states. The deputy said he was “unable to complete” the evaluation because of this.
When asked to walk a straight line heel-to-toe, the officer noted in his report that Owens “stepped off the line to his right on step eight,” took one too many steps and turned incorrectly. He also did “not touch heel to toe on step three,” the report states.
However, once arrested and taken to the detention center, a breathalyzer test administered twice registered only a .023 and .025-well below the .08 percent blood alcohol level that constitutes an offense, or the .05 percent that can be used along with the law enforcement officer being able to establish the driver was perilously operating the vehicle.
Results of a blood test are pending.
Regardless of whether or not the DUI charge is dropped, the county has a zero-tolerance policy for those driving county vehicles, said BOC chair and water & sewer authority board member Steve Gooch.
“He could have been considered on his own time had it not been for the fact he was driving a county vehicle. There's no excuse for drinking while driving a taxpayer owned vehicle,” he said.
Owens was stopped on his way home from a meeting with Environmental Protection Division officials while driving a county vehicle.
Owens faces 30 days suspension without pay, effective Aug. 11. In addition, he will be required to undergo evaluation and counseling at his own expense, submit to random drug testing at the board's discretion and will not be allowed to drive a county vehicle. He will, however, be allowed to drive vehicles belonging to the water & sewer authority while performing the duties of his job. In addition, should there be a repeat offense, Owens would automatically be terminated, the board voted.
Owens was stopped on Georgia 400 northbound by a Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy after his vehicle “crossed the lines on both sides of the vehicle several times,” the incident report states.
Owens admitted having a glass of red wine with dinner, but said he was checking his day-planner when he was stopped.
Owens submitted willingly to a field sobriety check, but was arrested when he failed to satisfy the officer that he was sober. When asked to visually follow a pen held in front of his eyes, Owens would “not keep his head still or he would anticipate the direction the pen would travel,” the deputy's report states. The deputy said he was “unable to complete” the evaluation because of this.
When asked to walk a straight line heel-to-toe, the officer noted in his report that Owens “stepped off the line to his right on step eight,” took one too many steps and turned incorrectly. He also did “not touch heel to toe on step three,” the report states.
However, once arrested and taken to the detention center, a breathalyzer test administered twice registered only a .023 and .025-well below the .08 percent blood alcohol level that constitutes an offense, or the .05 percent that can be used along with the law enforcement officer being able to establish the driver was perilously operating the vehicle.
Results of a blood test are pending.
Regardless of whether or not the DUI charge is dropped, the county has a zero-tolerance policy for those driving county vehicles, said BOC chair and water & sewer authority board member Steve Gooch.
“He could have been considered on his own time had it not been for the fact he was driving a county vehicle. There's no excuse for drinking while driving a taxpayer owned vehicle,” he said.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thedahloneganugget.com.
libby wrote on Aug 9, 2008 5:18 PM:
" better wait til the next stop light to check your day planner, ole chap :) that is a good one tho ! "
svrdhd wrote on Sep 4, 2008 2:35 PM:
" My brother is a police officer and for fun he conducted a field sobriety test on my wife at a party to see if she could pass. She failed repeatedly, and she would have faced DUI ($$$). Then we confessed to him that she had not been drinking at all, he had seen what he expected to see. This is even tougher to do if you have just been pulled over by a stranger who is trained to intimidate you. Eye flicker/jerking is a drinking giveaway, but walking the line, balancing, etc is just too subjective. Insist on a chem test if innocent, but don't waste everyone's time if you're guilty! "
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For example, if Mr. Fill-in-the-Blank says something you don't agree with, don't tell the world that Mr. Fill-in-the-Blank is a no good dirty scoundrel who cuts off people in traffic and has owed you $20 since 1997. The Nugget asks you to please just stick to the issues at hand. That way we'll keep the debate lively, without getting personal. And remember, above all else, keep it civil and directed at the topic that's being discussed. We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
rdhood wrote on Aug 7, 2008 4:12 PM:
.023 is, in fact, about one drink
.023 is NOT drunk, and the DUI will not stick. He never even should have been charged
Field sobriety tests are a sham, and this article proves it. Do NOT submit to field sobriety tests. At best, they make you look stupid. At worst, the will make the innocent look drunk. "No thank you officer, I respectfully decline." I have it from several officers that most stone cold sober adults cannot pass a field sobriety test, and they are specifically designed to make you look bad in front of a judge/jury.
There is ZERO tolerance in county vehicles. Mr. Owens got the punishment he deserved. "