While in uniform and on-duty as a police dog helplessly sits in the backseat?
It took 15 shots of vodka for a Wisconsin deputy to do just that.
St. Croix County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Fowler ended up having a .23 blood alcohol content – nearly three times the legal limit.
In fact, Fowler still had the squad car in drive with his foot on the brake when responding officers found him passed out from his drunken stupor.
But he later blamed the bartender at the Comfort Inn for getting him drunk.
The incident took place in October 2016 but reports of the incident were only released until recently.
Deputy Fowler was in North Dakota as extra security reinforcement for the pipeline standoff. He was one of five deputies that were called from the St. Croix County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin.
A few hours before Deputy Fowler was suppose to report to duty, he downed at least 15 premium Vodka shots at the Comfort Inn hotel where he and his colleagues were staying.
Additionally, Fowler had taken some sort of prescription medication.
Twincities reports that on October 12 around 11:30 p.m., after downing the shots, Fowler walked to his patrol car with his k-9 dog in an attempt to drive to the pipeline.
But he was too drunk to make it out of the parking lot.
He then became cold and offered to pay $5 for a random man’s sweatshirt. The man identified as Daylan Chasinghawk gave Fowler the sweatshirt but Fowler never coughed up the money.
That was when Chasinghawk called police to report that a deputy stole his sweatshirt.
Once police arrived at the hotel, they found Fowler in his patrol car drunk with the transmission in drive, his foot on the brake, and the doors locked. Officers had to bang on the window for several minutes to wake him up.
Officers then conducted field sobriety tests which Fowler failed or could not complete. He subsequently blew a 0.23 blood alcohol content test.
The Bismarck Police Department became so outraged at Fowler’s conduct that they sent the entire St. Croix sheriff’s detail back to Wisconsin.
Bismark police arrested Fowler on site. During a subsequent interview, Fowler blamed the Comfort Inn bartender for giving him too many drinks.
Under immense pressure from St. Croix County, Fowler resigned on December 1. His criminal trial is scheduled for March. He has pleaded not guilty.
