Officers Face No Sobriety Test After Being Pulled Over

By Kirsten McIntyre, NEWS 9

CHICKASHA, Oklahoma -- Two Grady County deputies were returning from Oklahoma City when they pulled over for speeding and after learning the passenger had been drinking, no field sobriety test was given to the driver.

According to police log, it was 3:38 a.m. on February 20 when Blanchard Police Officer Clayton Hobbs made the traffic stop.

Hank Weber, Blanchard's Acting Police Chief, said his officer quickly recognized the two people in the speeding car as sheriff's deputies from Grady County.

"During the course of the conversation, it's my understanding the passenger said he had been drinking or consuming alcohol," Chief Weber said. "At some point in time, we were told the driver hadn't had anything to drink."

At that point, the deputies were given a verbal warning and sent down the road without a field sobriety test.

"He didn't feel like, at the time when speaking to the driver, that the driver was intoxicated," Weber said.

The incident has become news in Chickasha with the driver admitting to the newspaper he did have some to drink, but was not drunk.

"I believe any officer would not let them go," said Art Kell, Grady County's new sheriff.

Kell firmly believes in his deputies, including the officer who stopped the two men.

"If a police officer allows somebody to drive off while they've been drinking, the liability of the police officer who makes the stop, then it's all on him," Kell said.

Blanchard's police chief said Officer Hobbs was not disciplined and the department is using this incident as a training tool for future traffic stops.