The Times Union has reported that Detective J.M., a 19 year-veteran with the Albany Police Department and, until recently, the department’s spokesman, pleaded not guilty to DUI charges on March 21.
J.M., 45, expressed his profound regret and sadness to the public.
While driving in a department-issued 2006 Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle on Friday, March 18 at approximately 9:30 p.m., J.M. was pulled over by officers for driving without taillights
According to court papers detailing his arrest, J.M. was seen with “glassy eyes”, his breath emitted “an odor of alcoholic beverage” and his speech was “very low and soft.”
J.C., another veteran police officer, had verbally warned J.M. – just minutes before he took off – not to drive. The exact verbal exchange between the two officers has not been revealed.
J.C., who had been parked in a public lot where he could view J.M.’s actions, followed J.M. when he observed that his vehicle’s lights were off. Court records also show that while stopped at the next traffic stop, a video surveillance camera in J.C.’s vehicle recorded the arrest.
J.C. declined to comment when The Times Union reached him on March 21.
J.M. told arresting officers that he was on his way home when he was pulled over.
Court records also reflect that J.M. either refused a field sobriety test, or, he simply failed them. He refused both a breath test at the scene and a blood alcohol test afterwards.
According to Police Chief Steven Krokoff, J.M. was taken to the South Station on Arch Street to be processed and was later released.
Deputy Chief Steve Reilly, filling in for J.M. as the department spokesman, said, “We are continuing an internal investigation. This case is going to follow the normal route through the court system.”
Reilly also commented that J.M., though authorized to drive the department’s vehicle for work “was not authorized to be using alcohol off-duty.”
J.M. was arraigned on March 21 before Judge Thomas Keefe in City Court for misdemeanor DUI, refusing alcohol breath testing and a taillight violation.
J.M. released this statement about his arrest: “I would just like to say that I am saddened and regret the negative publicity that this situation has put on my family, the entire Albany Police Department and the citizens of Albany. For over 19 years with the police department I have handled my position responsibly, with dignity and with pride. As I move forward it is my full intent to approach my current situation the same way.”
J.M., currently suspended without pay, will next be internally investigated.
J.C. has also been embroiled in criminal charges. He had a trespassing and harassment conviction for a fight in a bar in 1998 and recently had charges dropped on an unlawful imprisonment allegation.
You will need to contact a DUI attorney from our directory if you have been criminally charged with a DUI, DWI, OUI or an OWI. An experienced attorney can help you defend yourself.