A Collegedale, Tennessee, police officer stopped a Chattanooga officer one rainy summer night on suspicion of DUI. But instead of arresting him, he extended “professional courtesy” and drove him home.
The Times Free Press is not identifying the Chattanooga officer because he was not criminally charged, and because of a lack of documentation, a Chattanooga Police Department internal affairs investigation could not find a preponderance of evidence to prove his level of intoxication was, in fact, above the legal limit.
On July 10, the Chattanooga officer was driving home from a night out with his girlfriend on his motorcycle. It was raining. When the couple reached a stop sign at the intersection of Edgmon and Tallant roads, the bike lost traction and caused him to lose his balance. He, his girlfriend and the bike all fell over onto the ground, according to Chattanooga internal affairs records.
His girlfriend, who was intoxicated, became upset and refused to get back on the motorcycle. So the officer drove home and came back to pick her up with his pickup truck. That’s when Collegedale Sgt. Burlon “Scooter” Hayworth stopped him.
“The driver is [drunk],” Hayworth is heard telling dispatchers, according to his body camera footage.