Cd'A fire official charged with DUI

COEUR d'ALENE - A Coeur d'Alene deputy fire chief charged with driving under the influence of alcohol was not arrested at the scene despite failing a field sobriety test after being pulled over.

Jim C. Washko, a 15-year Coeur d'Alene Fire Department veteran, was cited and released for misdemeanor DUI shortly after midnight Dec. 22. Idaho State Police stopped the vehicle he was driving when they noticed the front seat passenger vomiting out the passenger's side door, according to the ISP arrest report.

Washko registered a .130/.131 blood-alcohol content. The legal limit for impaired drivers in Idaho is .08. He failed a balance, walk and gaze sobriety test along the roadside near the intersection of Fourth Street and Dalton Avenue, according to the arrest report filed in First District Court, but was not booked in Kootenai County jail.

ISP Capt. Curtis Kastens said he could not discuss the particulars of the DUI on Thursday, but he did say troopers have discretion in deciding whether to haul a suspected drunken driver to jail or cite and release one.

"We don't book all of our misdemeanors just on the fact that we'd fill all our jail up," Kastens said.

Other law enforcement agencies said their officers can exercise discretion on whether to arrest or cite and release. Citing and releasing, some agencies say, is rare.

Kastens said while circumstances may differ between officers, they're allowed to consider whether the suspect is a flight risk when deciding whether to book them. They can also consider whether the officer trusts that the suspect's family or friends will take care of the suspect after the officer turns them over.

The ISP arrest report doesn't say why Trooper Jim Hall cited and released Washko, or how the high-ranking public servant got to his Hayden home, approximately 11 miles from the scene.

Kastens said the most important factor after a suspected DUI stop is disengaging the suspect from the vehicle so the offense cannot continue. After that, troopers are allowed to consider whether they know the suspect when deciding whether to book or cite and release him or her.

Other law enforcement agencies said they have similar policies. If an agency's resources are stretched thin on a particular night, cite and release can be the favored route to go if the suspect can be turned over to trustworthy care, they said.

But recognizable community figures can be less likely to be flight risks, Kastens said, which could factor into a decision.

Asked whether this was favoritism, Kastens said: "No ... Jails are crowded."

ISP doesn't automatically track the number of DUI arrests compared to cite and releases, so that number wasn't available Thursday. Washko, 57, was cited and released one day before U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo was arrested for DUI outside Washington, D.C.

Washko, hired by the city in 1997, didn't return messages left by The Press.

Kootenai County Prosecutor Barry McHugh said his office has turned the case over to the Shoshone County Prosecutor's Office because Washko has worked with the local prosecutor's office in criminal investigations involving fire.

"I treat him the same as any similarly situated law enforcement officer with whom we work," McHugh emailed The Press. "To avoid any inference that he is being treated differently than others my office prosecutes because of the work relationship, I sent it to an office that does not work with the Cd'A Fire Department."

Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Keisha Oxendine did not return messages left by The Press.

Fire Chief Kenny Gabriel declined to comment on the personnel issue, as did City Administrator Wendy Gabriel.

Coeur d'Alene Police spokeswoman Sgt. Christie Wood said Coeur d'Alene police officers are allowed to consider "extenuating circumstances" like health factors when deciding on arrests or releases, but that it is a "rare circumstance" not to be booked in jail after failing a sobriety and breathalyzer test.

"It does occur," she emailed The Press. Statistics on arrests versus release weren't available Thursday, she said. "But my guess is the number (of cite and release) is very low."

Washington State Patrol spokesman Troy Briggs, however, estimated his department cited and released around 70 percent of its DUI suspects, for a wide range of discretionary reasons.

Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Lt. Stu Miller said troopers can also exercise discretion, and whether the suspect is a recognizable figure in the community is one of the factors a deputy can consider.

Public servants, like officers, attorneys or judges who might be at risk in jail, could also be cited and released for safety reasons. Booking in jail is used as a way to secure the suspect's court appearance, and public fixtures are easy to find, and less likely to flee, he said.

But, he added, "You're getting arrested 99.99 percent of the time."

Washko is scheduled to go to court March 4 before Magistrate Judge Robert Caldwell.