A contract bus driver was sentenced Monday to one year in jail with alcohol treatment.
A second year in jail for Darren Pettee, 50, was suspended upon his completing two years of DUI probation, the Denver District Attorney’s Office said. Pettee’s blood-alcohol content was recorded at nearly three times the legal limit for normal drivers.
Pettee pleaded guilty last November to attempting to endanger public transportation and his fifth DUI offense.
Investigators say a customer on the bus Pettee was driving near East Ninth Avenue and Clermont Street in September 2014 noticed that “his driving was out of the ordinary.”
Authorities say Pettee’s blood alcohol was tested four hours after he was removed from his bus and was found to be 0.211.
The state’s limit for normal drivers is 0.08, but for commercial drivers, such as Pettee, the legal limit is 0.04.
Pettee was convicted of driving while ability impaired in 1989 and 1992. RTD said its required background checks go back only 15 years.
The district attorney’s office said Pettee apologized for his actions at the sentencing.
