BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — New details in the arrest of a Lerdo detentions lieutenant over the weekend for alleged DUI.
- BPD officers cited and released the lieutenant for misdemeanor DUI earlier Sunday before he was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run.
- Senior Reporter Veronica Morley sat down with BPD to learn why they opted to cite and release during that first instance.
- Traffic lieutenant Joseph Galland said in a majority of DUI cases, the suspect would have been arrested and taken to jail for booking. In this case though, Galland said, there were some challenges to consider.
Just after noon on Sunday, Bakersfield police traffic officers responded to a minor collision off of Stockdale and Allen. When they arrived, BPD said one of the drivers involved was detentions lieutenant Patrick McNeill. Officers conducted a field test and believed McNeil to be under the influence of alcohol. He was cited for DUI and driven back to his home.
Traffic lieutenant Joseph Galland said in a majority of DUI cases, the suspect would have been arrested and taken to jail for booking. In this case though, Galland said, there were some challenges to consider.
“Where did the decision to cite and release come from?” I asked.
“I believe the watch commander and the duty captain consulted KCSO looking at the totality of the circumstances, the fact that the jail would have to be put on lockdown while he was brought in,” Galland said.
“Do you know what his BAC in that first incident was?” I asked.
“I believe it was 0.30,” said Galland.
Galland told me McNeill did identify himself as the detention's lieutenant. He said because of this, officers reached out to the jail before taking him in.
“I believe they were short staffed, so it would have extended the booking times for every agency in the county significantly,” Galland said. “High likelihood that, from what I understand, that nobody would have been able to book a suspect for probably four to six hours.”
“The policy about having to kind of clear out the jail when a when a police officer is being arrested or coming in like that, where is that policy?” I asked
“That's not ours,” Galland answered. “That's [Lerdo] standard operating procedure, and that's standard in I think every jail I've ever been around.”
Gallend said after a DUI cite and release typical procedure is to impound the driver's car and have them contact someone to pick them up.
“We usually prefer to have an adult over 21 who is licensed and isn't under the influence of anything, come and get the person and take them to a safe location,” he said. “On rare occasions we've also taken people home uh when that option wasn't available.”
“Was that the case in this situation?” I asked.
“Yes,” he responded.
“Was there any indication, did the officers have any reason to suspect that the lieutenant may, under the influence of alcohol, get into another vehicle?” I asked.
“No,” Galland answered. “And apparently the vehicle that he took from home, which was his county vehicle, isn't a patrol car isn't a marked unit. It's just a very plain, I believe Nissan Altima. I don't think anybody realized that that was another vehicle he had access to.”
After McNeill was taken home, officers received another report around 2:15 of a hit and run. Officers were able to connect McNeill’s county car to that incident and arrested him on two misdemeanor charges of DUI and a misdemeanor hit-and-run.
KCSO said McNeill is currently on leave.
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