DUI
Florida DUI Instructor Found Driving Drunk and Half-Naked
Last December Officer Laurie Primeau, a police academy DUI instructor, was stopped by the Orange County Sheriff's Department on Florida’s Turnpike. She was driving drunk, speeding at 90 mph, and naked from the
waist down.
Primeau, 47, is with the Plantation Florida Police Department, located in south Florida. When stopped she was over 200 miles north near Orlando.
In a recently released Plantation Police Department Internal Affairs report it was noted that Officer Primeau has been suspended without pay until August. She has been with the department for nearly 27 years, was the 1994 Plantation Officer of the Year and received a Distinguished Performance Award in 2004.
The report states she was stopped after swerving into the lane of Orange County Deputy David Alvarado and, in his words, "almost collided" with him.
After stopping Primeau, Deputy Alvarado asked "Where are your pants?" He told investigators he thinks she answered, "I don't know." Alvarado said he asked for backup because "I didn't want to be alone too long with a naked female on the side of the road." After being asked again about her pants, Primeau reached for her sweat pants and put them on.
A large open bottle of Southern Comfort was found in Primeau’s car, which her attorney later argued was used for police academy recruit training.
According to the report she refused a Breathalyzer test but failed roadside sobriety exercises. Orange County Animal Control was called to take custody of two dogs in her car while she was taken to jail. She stayed in jail for five days until arranging for bail.
A jury found Primeau guilty of drunken driving in January during a criminal trial in Orange County. She was given a speeding ticket, fined $647 and sentenced to 50 hours of community service. Her driver's license was suspended for 180 days, and she was put on a period of probation.
Primeau was re-assigned to a dispatch unit and performed odd jobs in the communications department after returning to work with the Plantation police department. She was suspended from the department last June though she is due to return to road patrol work in August.
Police Chief Larry Massey, wrote to Primeau, "there will be no second chances." If she violates department policy or engages in drunken driving again, the chief told her, she will be terminated. Primeau has apologized to the department for having "tarnished the badge and ... humiliated everybody here."
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Posted
Friday, July 28, 2006
Filed in DUI News | Florida DUI | Permalink | Comments (0)
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