Prosecutor Protests Bogus Arrest for
DWI-Drugs

Article courtesy of The Joblin Globe.

ASSISTANT PROSECUTOR UPSET WITH ARREST

Blake Wolf has acknowledged that he was taking prescription Oxycodone for pain at the time of the traffic stop on Nov. 19 when he was arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He said he had taken only one 40 milligram tablet that day.

His prescription bottle warns that the drug may cause drowsiness and that one should be careful driving while on the drug. But the warning label does not state that the user should not drive.

He wakes up in the middle of the night, unable to get back to sleep, an old craving gnawing at the edge of his consciousness.

He would have to sneak the cigarette, so his wife wouldn't know and be disappointed with him. Couldn't risk the smell of smoke in the house. He would go for a short drive. One smoke and come back. She wouldn't even know he was gone.

He pulls on some clothes and goes out to the car. Heads down County Road 230. Takes a right onto Maverick Road, the smoke and cold night air filling his lungs now, taking the edge off. Another right onto Route D, headed south.

Just past Kafir Road, he decides to head back, and pulls into a driveway to turn around.

He sees the lights of an emergency vehicle closing fast up D from the south. He waits for it to pass before backing out. But it doesn't pass. Instead it stops on the road, blocking his exit. He sees now that it's a patrol car.

The officer backs up to let him out. He backs out and heads north on D.

The officer turns on his lights and pulls him over.

'An Abundance of Caution'

So began the Nov. 19 traffic stop of Blake Wolf, 50, an assistant county prosecutor, head of the criminal justice department at Missouri Southern State University and trainer of many of the officers serving in local law-enforcement agencies.

About 45 minutes later, Wolf would be taken, handcuffed, to the Jasper County Jail under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. At the jail, he'd blow a 0.00 on a breathalyzer machine and yet be asked to provide a urine specimen for testing before being released without a charge.

The incident near a multi-agency sobriety checkpoint at the intersection of Route D and Highway 96 involved officers from the Carterville Police Department and the Jasper County Sheriff's Department.

The incident and its attendant publicity have left Wolf embarrassed and more than a little upset with the officers involved.

"It's given me firsthand experience with something I'd heard about but never encountered myself, that is, these rogue officers who mistreat the public and, frankly, who violate the law," Wolf said in an interview last week.

He said he has not had a drink in more than five years and should never have been mistaken for being intoxicated the night in question. He said he informed the officers involved that he suffered from neuropathy in his legs and feet that made it difficult for him to perform the two field sobriety tests he failed, but it did not seem to matter to them.

Sheriff Archie Dunn has acknowledged that Wolf's medical condition contributed to his inability to perform the field sobriety tests. But Dunn has defended his officers' conduct as appropriate with respect to procedure and says Wolf was taken to the jail for a breathalyzer test "out of an abundance of caution."

Illegal Stop

Wolf believes he was stopped illegally in the first place by a Carterville patrolman, Arthur Perrin. The Jasper County deputies called in by Perrin perpetuated that error, he said. Wolf said Deputy Chad Karr who performed the field sobriety tests on him showed no competency in conducting them, no compassion for someone with a physical ailment and handicap, and poor judgment in concluding that the results of the tests gave him probable cause to make an arrest.

Perrin was assisting the sobriety checkpoint by acting as a traffic-control officer, according to Carterville police Chief Tommy Kitch. As such, he was assigned to keep an eye on traffic approaching the checkpoint. When Wolf turned into the driveway to turn around, it raised suspicion in Perrin that he might be intoxicated and attempting to avoid the checkpoint, Kitch said.

Wolf said he was not even aware there was a checkpoint when he turned into the driveway. He said he was still almost a mile from the intersection of D and Highway 96 and he could not see the intersection from there. He said he was not trying to avoid anything.

"Why would I?" Wolf said. "My registration was current. My insurance was current. My license was current. I had no reason to avoid the checkpoint."

And he gave Perrin no driving reason to stop him either, he said.

He said he questioned Perrin about being out of his jurisdiction when Perrin stopped him and asked Wolf if he had been drinking. Perrin informed him he was working a sobriety checkpoint with officers of the JasCo Metro Police Department and Jasper County deputies, Wolf said.

'Inconclusive'

Perrin called in Jasper County deputies at that point, and Deputy Karr took control of the traffic stop.

Wolf said Karr identified himself to him, and he told Karr that he had heard his name before in the prosecutor's office. He said that was the first he let any officer know he was a local prosecutor. He said he complained to Karr that Perrin had made an illegal stop and Karr told him he did not want to hear "any of your prosecutor crap."

Wolf said Karr told him the problem was he smelled of intoxicants. Wolf accused him of making that up to justify an illegal stop.

"I told him: 'I don't drink. I haven't had a drink in well over five years.' I said: 'This is ludicrous.' "

Karr insisted he could smell intoxicants and told him to be quiet and follow his orders, Wolf said. He said he told Karr he would be compliant, but he was not going to stop complaining about an unlawful stop.

Karr had a Carterville officer administer a portable breath test on Wolf, which Kitch has acknowledged was "inconclusive." Wolf said he blew three times into the machine and was told each time, the result was "inconclusive."

The Tape

Karr then began a series of field sobriety tests, including the one-legged stand and heel-to-toe walk. Carterville police videotaped the traffic stop from one of their squad cars and the Globe has viewed the tape, which begins about 10 minutes into the stop and captures all the tests that were performed.

Wolf is unsteady and wobbly in performing the two tests he reportedly failed. It also appears to be painful to him to perform those tests, and he does not appear intoxicated while in motion in front of the camera between tests.

He also appears to perform a fingers-to-nose test without difficulty.

Karr ultimately placed Wolf under arrest. Wolf asked Karr why he was arresting him since he did not smell of alcohol, had been walking around normally between tests and his speech was not slurred.

He said Karr told him he had failed the two tests.

"I said: 'I told you why I couldn't pass those tests. I'm handicapped. I've got peripheral neuropathy.' "

Wolf said he was subjected to further indignities at the jail when he had difficulty providing Karr with a urine specimen because he was on the drug Lasix for a heart condition. He said Karr repeatedly threatened to put him down as having refused the urine test.

Still Open

The Sheriff's Department declined comment on Wolf's criticism of the way he was treated.

"We still can't give a comment," Chief Deputy Kelly Stephens said. "We're still waiting on the results of the urine test and it's still an open investigation."

Stephens said the Sheriff's Department has "the utmost respect" for Wolf and his contributions to the law-enforcement community. But it would be inappropriate to respond to his criticism while an investigation is in progress, Stephens said.

Kitch told the Globe he regrets that the incident has caused some strain between law-enforcement agencies in Jasper County. He said he intends in the future not to let any of his officers act as traffic-control officers at checkpoints outside their jurisdiction.

Kitch, who was at the checkpoint but never got closer to Wolf than 20 feet, said his own opinion is that Wolf was not intoxicated.

"But I was not the officer conducting the field sobriety," Kitch said.