Let's stop right there. Let's stop [snorts] right there. I want you to follow me. On the morning of July 31st, 2021, multiple 911 calls flooded into Jacksonville dispatch. The reports were all the same. A car was swerving across lanes, the driver possibly impaired, and dangerously close to causing a crash. Is Jacksonville dispatch? Hey, this is Can you put me through to an outside line, please? Sure, what's your name? Hello? Is this Zachary? Yes, this is he. >> Hey. Hey, man, it's Sergeant and Sergeant is here with me, man. Hey, buddy. Hey, are you okay? 41098 Yes, sir. Are you at home? No, sir. I'm working off duty. You're working off duty? Where are you working at, buddy? Um working at the uh Buddy, are you all right, man? Where are you at? Yes, sir. I'm on the Heart Bridge. At the Heart Bridge? Okay. Well, well, we're going to come check on you, man, cuz we we we uh we just we need to check on you, okay? Everything good? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll we'll be there in a minute, okay? When your shift starts with, "Hey, buddy, are you okay?" you already know it's not ending with coffee and donuts. And when this officer, later identified as Zachary, finally took the breathalyzer, the number that popped up wasn't just over the legal limit, it was a number that can literally land you in the hospital. We received multiple 911 calls concerning uh your driving today and people concerned about you being possibly impaired. Obviously, when we arrived here, you're seated in the driver's seat with the vehicle running. And so, there's some concerns about your sobriety. So, what I want to do is just take a few minutes with you and make sure that you're not too impaired operating a motor vehicle. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. Okay. Um before we do it, I just have a couple quick questions for you. And then, what I want to do is, because you're dressed like this and I don't want to draw any additional attention to the situation, we're just going to walk over to where that tent is and uh have some things. Before we do anything else, if you don't mind, will you pull your zipper up? I don't want anything to come out or cause further embarrassment. Uh um All right. You can take your hands out of your pockets, too. I apologize. Are you a diabetic? Are you epileptic? Do you have any medical conditions which mimic you being impaired by alcohol and/or drugs? No? Okay. Do you have any physical defects or injuries that I need to be concerned about? No. Um I'll tell you what. Let's Let's walk over there now. I'd feel better than standing out here. Do you have on any secondary weapons or anything? No, sir. Okay. You can walk over there. We're going to go right inside that tent. That awkward zipper comment, not [music] just banter, it's an officer consciously protecting dignity and shielding the agency from future civil complaints. Are you wearing those prescription sunglasses like mine? Okay. Um If you will, I'm going to ask you to remove your sunglasses. I'll remove mine. Uh um In a little bit, we'll um we'll go on and you can put those on if you'd like, okay? Um Because it's this is essentially a DUI investigation just like anything else, we're just moving you here for privacy. Um I'm going to advise you of your constitutional rights ahead of time. Doesn't mean you're under arrest, it simply means that I want to ask you questions concerning how much you had to drink, when you last drank, those type of things to help evaluate your sobriety. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to read you your rights in advance. If at the end of the investigation you're not impaired, you're free to go, no harm, no foul. Likewise, if you are impaired, then you understand where I'm coming from, okay? You understand that? Um Real quick, before we get into this, um as we were walking over here, you mentioned that you might have been looking down on your laptop. Okay. That's understandable. Hopefully understandable. Uh is today your day off or did you work last night? You're just kick continuing into a secondary appointment? I did work a secondary job Okay. When did you last work? Same time yesterday. Which was when? What time is it right now? It's 5:00. 8:00 p.m. Okay. And so, you worked yesterday what time? 6:00 to 9:00. Okay. And did you work the same job, like work here? Okay. So, you work 6:00 to 9:00 and then did you work anything else or were you off? Okay. So, you're just returning here today for an additional shift. And what time are your scheduled hours today? Um 6:00 to Okay. And you're responsible for traffic due to the construction on the bridge. Okay. All right. Um so, other than that, you didn't work yesterday. Okay. All right. And where were you coming from to get here? Um I'm sorry? My residence. Okay. Where Whereabouts do you live? You don't have to give me the whole address, but just Okay. Uh off of what Mage Road? What Mage Road? Off of Baldwin Okay. So, [clears throat] Baldwin Belfort area. Okay. So, you came from Baldwin to Belfort and how did you come to get here? When asked about his condition, the officer offers excuses. Fatigue from long shifts, confusion about his off-duty schedule, and yes, looking down at his laptop while driving. That's a dangerous admission. Um Honestly, I I was mistaken for a different shift. Uh I headed up to Zone 4. So, you went to Zone 4 first? Yes. Okay. And what was your points at where you normally work? Um I work off-duty shifts there. Okay. So, you were you thought you were going to a different job initially or got yourself confused. At what point did you realize that you were supposed to be here versus on the west side? Um Halfway through, like halfway going to Zone 4. So, you turned around somewhere on the interstate. >> yeah. So, I got off at Roosevelt area. Okay. Got back on the I-10 Yeah. and then I started heading You weren't having any issues driving other than you said you were looking at your your laptop. Besides looking at the laptop, I was just trying to get Okay. So, did that So, did that occur like throughout the whole thing or just maybe a couple times, do you know? Several times. I was like Okay. And do you remember what you were typing or who you were typing or what you were doing? I just kept looking at it. Okay. Was there something on it that you saw that was Can I go ahead and take that from you just so we don't I'll just start turning it down or turn it off. You can put it on mute. >> [clears throat] >> That would That's We don't need any other distractions once I kind of get into that area. So, you looked at it a few times or continuously? I think the question was Do you remember what you were doing that was what you were typing or what you were what program you were using, any of that? I just logged in Otis Okay. and I So, you It's all right. Otis and we like logged on to NBC? Next comes the classic horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the one where suspects are told to follow the tip of a pen with only their eyes. Supposedly, alcohol creates involuntary eye jerks, [music] a sign of impairment. But in Florida courts, this test is often attacked by defense attorneys as unreliable junk science. All right, buddy. From your one Okay. Yeah. All right. Let me do a couple things with you real quick. I have a few more questions, but just to start, what I want to do is check your eyes. If you'll stand on your feet, you have to get your heels and toes touching and bring your toes together just like I'm standing, if you will. Leave your hands down by your side and just remain in that position and I'll explain what I want you to do. Here in just a minute, I'm going to hold this pen up in front of you. Can you see the top of that pen up there where my finger is? What color is the top of that? It's gray. Okay. It is gray. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to move this pen back and forth in front of you. What I need for you to do is keep your head perfectly still and follow the tip of the pen with your eyes and your eyes only. In other words, don't move your head, only move your eyeballs. You understand that? Yes, sir. Do you have any questions about that? Yes, sir. I'm sorry? No, sir. No, sir. Okay. All right. Here we go. Do you feel like you're following it okay? Yes, sir. You do? Okay. Look up Look up here right where that gray thing is. Keep looking at it. Keep looking at that the whole time for me. Couple more passes. If you feel like you're going to get sick or anything, tell me. Keep looking at it. Gray tip. Look right there. It's not moving. Look right where it's at. Look right there. Just keep your head straight and just follow this. Don't worry about anything else. Bring your chin down a little bit. There you Can you see it still? Mhm. Try and stay as still as you can. I know you're moving around quite a bit. Try and stay still. The officer is then asked to perform the walk and turn, heel-to-toe steps in a straight line. This test is scored on eight clues like stepping off line, raising arms, or failing the turn. All right. Obviously, I know you're in good enough condition to work in in law enforcement. So, I don't mean to insult you, but do you have any physical defects or injuries which would prevent you from being able to do some divided attention tasks? >> Yeah, I was in a car crash In what? I-90. Uh I-90. I-95, I'm sorry. Yeah. Okay, when was that? Last year, I think. Okay, have you Have you taken the Were you cleared to return to work? Yes. Have you taken the physical agility test at the sheriff's office since then? Were you able to pass it? Mhm. That's probably going to be much harder than anything else I'm going to ask you to do today, okay? But, I don't want to cause you any pain or discomfort. So, if for any reason I ask you to do something and you're physically unable or it hurts, you tell me and we'll do something else, okay? All right. Here's what I'd like for you to do, please. Using that line directly in front of you, I want you to take and place your left foot on that line. All right. Now, I want you to take and place your right foot in front of your left foot where your heel touches your toe. Place your hands down by your side. Remain in that position. Do not begin. Go back. Place your left foot on the line. Just follow the instructions one by one, please. Place your right foot in front of your left foot where your heel touches your toe. So, left foot on the line. Right foot, heel to toe, hands down by your side. Remain in that position. All right, let me fix you again because you're not in the right position. Put your left foot directly on the line. Put your right foot in front of your left foot where your heel touches your toe like I'm standing. Hands down by your side. Remain in that position. Do not begin or do anything else until I instruct you to do so. Do you understand? Yes, sir. The irony, police agencies train their own officers in these exact maneuvers. Think of it as DUI bingo. [music] Do you understand those instructions? Yes, sir. Do you have any [snorts] questions about those instructions? Based upon those instructions, is there any reason why you don't feel like you can do this? No, sir. All right. If you don't have any questions, then you can begin whenever you're ready. All right, stop right there. Just stop right [clears throat] there. I don't want you to fall. All right, let's try a different one. Go back to where you were originally in that start position. All right. Go ahead. Just take a step forward. Good. All right. Go ahead and place your feet together that your heels and toes touch them like you did earlier. All the way together. Smash them together. There you go. Place your hands down by your side. Remain in that position. Do not begin or do anything else until I instruct you to do so. Do you understand? Yes? Yes, sir. Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. All right. This next exercise I'm going to ask you to try is called the one leg stand. In the one leg stand, I'm going to have you use I'm going to have you pick the choice the foot of your choice, the right or the left, whichever one you feel like you'll do the best with. You're going to raise it approximately 6 in into the air, which is the size of a dollar bill or a soda can, okay? While keeping your hands down by your side, I'm going to raise your foot keeping both Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait. Just listen. You're going to raise the foot of your choice, keep both legs straight, point the toe forward so the bottom of your foot's approximately 6 in into the air. And you're going to look at the elevated foot. You're going to count 1,001, 1,002, 1,003, and so on until I tell you to stop, okay? During the exercise, do not sway, do not hop, and do not Put it down. Yes, sir. do, just pick it back up and keep counting from wherever you left off. Do you understand that? Yes, sir. Wait just a second. Do you understand those instructions? Yes, sir. Okay. Do you have any questions about those? No, sir. Okay. Based upon those instructions now that I've given them to you, is there any reason why you don't feel like you can do that? No, sir. Okay. Just as a reminder, while you're doing this, keep your arms down by your side, look at your elevated foot, count out loud 1,001, 1,002, 1,003, and so on until I tell you to stop, okay? Any questions? What's that? All right. If you don't have any questions, you can begin whenever you're ready. All right, we'll stop there because I don't want to I don't want to see you fall. >> [clears throat] >> Watching this, the officer actually cuts the test short. Why? Because he's about to topple over. And here's something interesting. This test is only about 65% accurate even when performed perfectly. That means one out of three sober people could fail it. Let's have Let's have an honest conversation right now. How much did you have to drink? Uh I drank last night. Okay. Let's have an honest conversation about what you drank last night. What time did you start drinking last night? What time did you stop drinking? a.m.? No, no, no. Not 7:00 a.m. Not 7:00 a.m. So, you drank whatever you consumed last night between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.? Yeah. Okay. And you recognize the fact that you said it's close to 8:00 a.m. now. So, what you're telling me is you haven't consumed any alcohol in the last 13 hours. Okay. In that 1 hour in which you did consume alcohol, how much did you have? How much can On your best day, how much could you drink in an hour? Let's make it easy. What were you drinking? Let's start with that. You have no idea? Vodka, beer, rum, Jägermeister, all of them? I mean, where were you drinking at? Let's do that. Home? At a bar? Okay, that's good. Drinking at home. Okay. And were you drinking beer? Maybe? No. Drinking liquor? Okay. Do you remember which kind of liquor you had or were you mixing it up? Whiskey. Okay. And how much whiskey do you think you had? When asked what he'd been drinking, the officer first dodges vodka, beer, rum, then finally blurts it out, whiskey. Whiskey is strong, straight liquor. Did you pass out? Yes, sir. Um Have you had any alcoholic beverages to drink today? Not to be gross or trying to insult you, but did you brush your teeth last night before you went to bed? Yes, sir. Okay. Did you brush your teeth this morning before you woke up and came here? Yes, sir. Did you have any other alcoholic beverages between yesterday at 7:00 and today? Okay. Do you currently take any medication prescribed by a doctor for anything? No, sir. Okay. Have you taken any medication not prescribed to you? No, sir. Have you used any illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, methamphetamine, anything like that? No, sir. Based upon Do you Do you have children? Do you not? Yes, sir. Um Based on your condition right now, how would you feel comfortable putting your family in the car and and driving to say to Disney? At this point, the supervisor has no choice. The officer is arrested, cuffed, and taken to jail. Clearly, you are way too impaired to be operating a motor vehicle. So, we're going to have to place you under arrest for driving under the influence today. What I'm going to ask you to do to keep from causing any more um problems, I'm asking you to remove your shirt and vest and just set it right here on this table for me, okay? Yeah, not right now. We'll We'll get that taken care of. A lot of people that a lot of things we have to deal with between now and then, but Do you have a problem with alcohol? No, sir. >> All right. I'm going to take these and set these right here. If you will, just place your hands behind your back for me. So, what we're going to do here is follow these directions. You're going to take a PII form just like anything else, and then I'll transport you downtown, and we'll afford you the opportunity to take your approved chemical test, to begin with a breath test, okay? And they'll they'll explain it they'll explain it to you from there. Do you have any questions for me at this moment? today? What time they supposed to meet you? Who is that? Um where's he coming from? She lives in Massachusetts, I think. I think they're the one to try and get in touch with. Okay. We'll see what we can do to help, okay? Mhm. Okay. We'll go to I guess I need Yeah, I need to get it real quick. I'm going to Get his phone his phone. I'm going to check his prescriptions something. Let's take this with us. Okay. Okay. Take those two, and then I'll put this stuff in the car for the time being. Okay. Is this car? Yeah. >> Okay. I'll have that sorted and dealt with. I'll be there in just a second. All right. Then, when the breathalyzer comes back, a jaw-dropping 0.299 BAC, nearly four times the legal limit. Following the arrest, Zachary was eventually transported to Duval County Jail. Once there, he provided [music] three breath alcohol samples. Along with a $500 fine, he was ordered to pay a total of $1,281, [music] and was further sentenced to 12 months on probation, suspended for [music] 6 months, and ordered to attend DUI school. Furthermore, [music] on May 12th, 2022, Zachary would later resign the same day of his arrest [music] after being employed with the agency for 3 years due to personal reasons. >> [music] >> Drop your thoughts in the comments. Was justice served, or did this officer catch a break because of the badge? Don't forget to like, subscribe, [music] and hit the bell, because we've got more coming your way. >> [music]