A Denver Police Department officer has been suspended for 16 days because he wrecked his car after drinking at a party and was arrested.
Officer Jayson Spitzer was notified of his suspension Aug. 9. He pleaded guilty in May to driving while ability impaired and a lane-usage violation after he was arrested in February by Lakewood police, according to a copy of his disciplinary letter obtained by The Denver Post.
Spitzer had consumed from five to seven drinks while attending a party at The Refinery in LoDo, the disciplinary letter said. On the way home, Spitzer was driving on Sixth Avenue when he slid on a snowy street into a median while on the Garrison Street exit ramp.
The collision disconnected the transmission hose on Spitzer’s private vehicle, and the transmission fluid leaked, causing the car to be inoperable. Spitzer called a tow service.
The tow truck driver noticed alcohol on Spitzer’s breath and called the Lakewood Police Department. Spitzer failed a roadside intoxication test and then tested for a blood-alcohol level of 0.165 percent, the disciplinary letter said. That’s more than double the legal limit for drunken driving.
But Spitzer did not lose his driver’s license, because the arresting officer did not appear at the Department of Motor Vehicle’s revocation hearing, the letter said.
