A 41-year-old Seattle police patrol sergeant, who was arrested in early April on suspicion of DUI.

The officer-reportedly a 16-year department veteran-told investigators he had been in Bremerton for the evening before his friend dropped him off around five o'clock in the morning to pick up his vehicle in Eastside Seattle.

The Sergeant was reportedly pulled over at 5:05 a.m. by an officer who saw his Jeep Cherokee veering onto the freeway shoulder. When the officer came near the Sergeant he smelled the odor of alcohol and when he asked about it, the sergeant said he hadn't had anything to drink since midnight.

A breath test that was taken at the Issaquah City jail 1 ½ hours after the Sergeant was pulled over revealed a BAC of .069 and .075 percent. That breath test wasn't taken immediately because the officer's battery was dead at the time of the stop.

Sources said that the Sergeant questioned Sgt. Kim Triplett about his arrest, since he was technically measured below the legal limit of .08, to which she responded that it was clear that he was over the legal limit at the actual time of the stop. She wrote in her report that it was out of the question to allow him to drive home.

After his arrest, the Office of Professional Accountability began an internal investigation of the incident

According to sources, the Sergeant was previously arrested for DUI in April of 2005. That charge was later amended to 1st-degree negligent driving.

The Sergeant's arrest came a week after Washington lawmakers passed a new bill making any drunk-driving offense a felony where the driver has previously been convicted of drunk driving. Fortunately for the Sergeant, he will not be affected by the new law.

Source: The Seattle Times, "Report: Officer says his last drink was 5 hours before DUI arrest," Sara Jean Green, 18 April 2011.