It was likely hard for Flower Mound, Texas, police sergeant Misty Hughes when she realized that professional courtesy wasn’t to be found in Lewisville.
Misty Hughes was arrested just after midnight Sunday in the 200 block of Round Grove Road. According to the arrest affidavit, Hughes’ six-year-old son was in the front seat of the car at the time of her arrest.
A 911 call came in about a car driving 77 miles per hour, hitting a retaining wall, and swerving in and out of its lane.
In an effort to get ahead of a dangerous situation, officers cut their lunch short. While talking to his car, one officer saw the vehicle traveling southbound in the 2200 block of the I-35E service road, according to the affidavit.
The Lewisville cops are clearly dedicated to safety and, apparently, the personification of their vehicles.
According to the affidavit, when the officer approached the driver’s side window, Hughes had red, watery eyes, rapid, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol inside the car. Officers also saw her son sleeping in the front passenger seat and a child’s booster seat in the backseat. The affidavit states that the seat was fully reclined, and the child not wearing a seatbelt.
It’s hard being a mom and a cop.
When again asked about taking a field sobriety test, she said “Of course not. No. I’m not stupid,” according to the affidavit. She also again admitted to drinking three beers, but refused to consent to the test. The affidavit also states that she then asked officers for “a little professional courtesy.” She also disclosed that she was going through personal problems and asked officers to let her call someone to pick her and her son up.
She also had three slices of pizza. Whether her son ate pizza is unknown.
When asked why she was refusing the field sobriety test, she said while she believed she would pass a portion of it, she would fail the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) portion.
“I’m not stupid, I’ve been a cop since 1995. I guarantee I will pass one leg stand, I will pass your walk and turn. HGN? Hit or miss at this point. I did eat three pieces of pizza within the last hour, but I’m 120 pounds. I’m not stupid, I know the math,” Hughes said according to the affidavit.
But this being Texas, the blood draw was a gimme, so she finally tried, and failed, the HGN.
As officers performed the tests Hughes asked “You know what sucks?” The officer replied, “What sucks ma’am?” She said, “As I watch your pen, I see my life falling apart in front of me. It’s amazing.”
Of course, after her arrest, she had to undergo the blood draw anyway, because evidence, while her husband picked up her car and son. Some cops just don’t understand professional courtesy, though one has to appreciate that the hungry Lewisville cops were kind enough to release Misty’s six-year-old son rather than turn him over to Child Protective Services for foster care. It’s not like they were totally heartless about it.
H/T Mike Paar
I’ll say one thing for Denton County, Texas–they don’t play on DWI. This isn’t the first officer arrested in that county for DWI, nor will it be the last. I can think of three others, all off of the top of my head. Plus, the DWI was a felony, because there was a child in the car. Kind of hard to ignore that.
Too bad that “cops who write cops” website is dead. It was always good for some down-home vitriol.
“Because evidence” what? Has to be taken immediately in cases like this? Takes precedence over privacy in such matters? Is more heavily relied upon by police than we thought?
What is it about people who don’t know stuff that makes them think it’s easier to ask me to spend my time explaining basics then looking it up themselves if they want to know but have no clue? Yes, the blood draw is needed for proof of drunk driving at trial. If you want to know why, go to law school.
Is Lewisville, TX some kind of abnormality? Because as we’ve seen elsewhere, this is hardly the kind of thing that gets a cop fired in many jurisdictions. Does she have a union rep?
I think that was ECLS’s point, that where others would have extended courtesy, it doesn’t happen there. Not a bad thing. Not bad at all that cops should have to live under the same rules as the rest of us.
That’s exactly my point Scott. All of Denton County is pretty much the same on this issue. MADD is very strong in that county.
Texas is also a right to work state, and until recently, union contracts were unheard of in Texas. They are still not allowed for state employees. A union rep wouldn’t help her, and if she’s convicted, her peace officer license will be suspended by the state TCOLE (POST).* That in turn means that she will lose her job and that she will not work as a peace officer in Texas again.
*Basically conviction for any criminal offense other than a traffic ticket results in a license suspension. A felony conviction results in a 30-year suspension.
I’ll side with her on refusing the field sobriety test. The ways in which you earn a fail on any portion of it while stone cold sober make the odds of passing it while even slightly inebriated almost impossible.
That lesson is taught by every cop who’s stopped for DUI. They always refuse unless stone sober.
Being stone sober is no help. I got certified to give the tests a few years ago and nobody in the class could pass any of them.
You really should see the HGN you get with some red and blue disco lights flashing in a dark room.
I stand corrected.
That’s what I’m saying. The heel-to-toe test can be failed with any gap at all between your feet and don’t even think about the ways you can screw up the turn.
Look, I’ve got some… issues in my past regarding booze and driving. In the classes that were required for that, we had to take the same tests. none of us passed, and only a few of us could pass even portions of the test.