By Brian Sargent
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma)
Copyright 2006 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved
An Oklahoma City Fire Department major has been arrested on complaints of drunken driving and possession of marijuana, police said.
Arrested was John Kevin Berry, 38, of Oklahoma City.
According to a police report:
•An officer stopped a car at 2:45 a.m. Monday in the 6500 block of Northwest Expressway after seeing it weave as it was headed north on the Lake Hefner Parkway.
•The driver smelled of alcohol. The driver told the officer he “had a couple of drinks, but that was some time back.”
•The driver failed a field sobriety test and was taken to the Oklahoma County jail, where he failed two breath tests, including one estimating a blood alcohol concentration of 0.20, more than twice the permissible legal limit.
Deputy Fire Chief Tony Young confirmed officials are aware of the arrest and are conducting an internal investigation.
“Obviously, we’re very disappointed that one of our officers would get arrested for DUI,” Young said. “When you have 1,000 employees were going to have moments like these, and we just got to deal with them.”
Records show that in 2005, Berry pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.
He received a one-year suspended sentence and $500 fine and was ordered to undergo an assessment to determine if he needed drug or alcohol treatment.
Berry has been with the department for 16 years.
“It appears to us he may have some underlying problems that we want to address, and we will go through the proper steps. We will meet with him. We will counsel with him,” Young said.