A Johnstown police sergeant was fired this summer after driving to work while intoxicated, but he is not facing any criminal charges.
William Ward was terminated from the Johnstown Police Department on July 20, .
Officers under Ward’s command suspected he may have come to work intoxicated at 6 a.m. May 28, according to a disciplinary action report from the police department. He arrived in his police car and had his firearm with him.
Ward is not facing charges, such as driving under the influence or prohibited use of a weapon, as of Friday morning, according to Colorado court records.
Under the departmentap policy, no employee can be impaired while doing safety-sensitive work, nor can they drive a town vehicle while under the influence.
“The decision to terminate Ward reflects our responsibility to the community and our obligation to ensure that every officer reporting for duty is capable of safely and responsibly carrying out the duties entrusted to them,” Johnstown Communications Manager Samantha Knowlton said in a statement.
Neither Ward or his attorney could be reached for comment. Knowlton said Ward’s actions were a personnel issue, which is why he was not criminally charged.
Town officials asked Ward to sign the disciplinary report on the issue, which recommended that Ward should be terminated, but his attorney advised him not to.
The Tribune requested internal town emails regarding Ward’s arrest or charges filed against him for the May incident, but Johnstown Town Clerk Meghan Martinez said no such records existed.
When officers confronted Ward about being intoxicated the morning of May 28, Ward agreed to take a preliminary breath test to measure his blood alcohol content. Ward’s first test, taken between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., showed a 0.107 blood alcohol content that morning, which is over the 0.08 threshold for a DUI arrest, according to the report. Ward said he didn’t feel drunk and that he would go home.
After that, officers informed other police department officials that Ward smelled of alcohol and had glassy eyes at about 8:30 a.m. Some officers went to Ward’s location, which is redacted in the report, and had him take a second preliminary breath test between 8:30 a.m. and 9:26 a.m. That test showed he had a 0.106 blood alcohol content.
He was then taken to Medicine for Business and Industry, a workplace healthcare provider, for more blood alcohol content tests. At about 9:26 a.m., he had a 0.099 blood alcohol content and about 15 minutes later he had a 0.097 blood alcohol content.
Ward said he had drunk about 15 alcoholic beverages the night before and had gone to sleep at about 11 p.m., according to the report.
