HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — In less than 48 hours, two Huntsville Police officers were arrested and charged with DUI over the weekend.
Both arrests came after separate car crashes involving the officers, who were off-duty at the time.
The Huntsville Police Department said HPD Officer Scott Hartman was arrested and charged with DUI after a crash early Saturday morning. HPD said the crash happened around 2:30am at the intersection of Church Street and Wheeler Avenue, less than .3 miles from HPD Headquarters.
HPD said the driver of the second vehicle involved in the crash was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. Officer Hartman, who was off-duty during the crash, has been placed on administrative leave.
Sunday night, around 11:30 p.m., another off-duty HPD officer was involved in a crash. HPD said Officer George Wheeler III crashed his car in a neighborhood off Bailey Cove Road.
A spokesperson for HPD said the crash happened near the intersection of W Tuliptree Dr SE and Nadina DR SE. The Huntsville Police Department said Wheeler III was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol.
Hunter Garnett, an attorney with Garnett Patterson Injury Lawyers LLC, applauds HPD for arresting two of their own.
“I think it takes courage as a police officer to arrest one of your own colleagues,” Garnett said.
News 19 reached out to Garnett to learn more about the consequences of a DUI arrest.
“If it’s your first offense, you could be facing jail time; it’s not typical to serve much jail time, as well as a fine and some restrictions on your driver’s license,” Garnett said.
While these two cases are still under investigation, Garnett said it’s possible that prosecutors could factor in a harsher punishment for the officers if they are found guilty.
“If I was a prosecutor and a police officer was arrested for DUI and was found guilty for DUI, I would be strongly considering a punishment that’s a little more aggressive,” Garnett said.
“One thing that concerns me is as a police officer, you see the most awful accidents and crime imaginable,” Garnett said. “There’s no doubt that these officers have worked DUI accidents where people were seriously injured or even killed.”
“I’m disappointed in these police officers because if the allegations are true and he was drinking and driving, despite seeing all these accidents and the effects of drinking and driving, that’s concerning to me, it shows a lack of remorse,” Garnett added.
At this time, HPD has not responded to News 19’s question asking if either officer was driving HPD vehicles at the time of the crashes. Tuesday, HPD Chief Kirk Giles released a statement on the incidents. Click here to read that.
Giles said internal investigations are underway in both cases.
The arrests of the two officers come just days after HPD wrapped up it’s “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” DUI awareness campaign. HPD arrested 53 people during that more than two-week effort.
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