A Chattanooga police officer’s driving under the influence charge has been dismissed in exchange for his resignation.
Prosecutor Dave Denny said the state moved to dismiss Michael Trumbo’s DUI charge “without proof” on Aug. 16, in part because the officer apologized for his conduct and intended to resign “irrespective of the outcome” of his case. Trumbo and his counsel, Janie Parks Varnell and Lee Davis, did not raise specific defenses or make excuses about the August 2017 incident for which he was charged, Denny said.
Michael Trumbo“And in addition to that,” Denny told Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman, who agreed to dismiss the charge, “everybody that had any contact with officer Trumbo that day said he didn’t show very many signs of impairment.”
In court records, Trumbo’s arresting officer, Michael Terry, said the 29-year-old was “noticeably unsteady on his feet,” smelled of alcohol when he arrived on scene around 5 a.m., blew a .144 on a breath test and failed some portions of his roadside tests.
Terry was not the first officer to approach Trumbo after he missed a U.S. Highway 27 on-ramp on Aug. 6, 2017, driving into a construction zone and off a small embankment. Trumbo was unharmed and didn’t hurt anybody else in the crash.