Fort Worth Police Officer Fired After DWI Charge

Fort Worth police officer Nicolas Ramirez was fired recently following his arrest for DWI earlier this year in Westlake, Texas. Ramirez was actually part of a DWI enforcement team, tasked with preventing and catching drunk driving. Ramirez was arrested on January 2, 2013 while off duty and in his personal vehicle at around 1 a.m. when an officer spotted him drifting onto the shoulder a few times. When the officer questioned Ramirez, he detected a slight odor of alcohol coming from his breath and asked him to perform a series of field sobriety tests. Ramirez failed those tests and was placed under arrest for suspicion of DWI. He later submitted 2 breathalyzer tests, one showing his blood alcohol content (BAC) level to be .188% and the other showing .194%, both of which are more than double the legal limit of .08%.

Since Ramirez was charged with DWI having a BAC level above .15, the offence is a Class A misdemeanor and could result in up to a year in prison as well as a $4,000 fine. After a slew of DWI arrests involving Fort Worth police officers, Chief Jeff Halstead promised to take a tougher stance on officers who were arrested for DWI. One day after Ramirez was arrested for DWI, Halstead said that he would fire any officer arrested for DWI without waiting for the case to be resolved in the criminal justice system. Ramirez was officially placed on an indefinite suspension on Tuesday and has not appealed the decision yet. Before vowing to penalize officers more harshly, Chief Halstead generally punished officers with a range of suspensions periods or termination. Ramirez started working with the Fort Worth Police in 2009 as a DWI enforcement officer.

If you have been arrested for driving drunk, contact an experienced and skilled Texas DWI attorney for legal assistance.