MEXICAN HAT, Utah, April 24, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — An off-duty police officer with the Navajo Police Department was arrested on suspicion of DUI near Mexican Hat Sunday night.
Officials received several calls reporting a possibly impaired driver on U.S. Highway 163 at about 8:40 p.m., according to a news release from the Navajo Police Department.
“Callers reported that a vehicle was parked in the middle of the road near Mexican Hat, and proceeded to an Exxon Mobile gas station,” the news release said. “Eventually, the driver returned back to the roadway and at some point crashed into a ditch.”
Witnesses stated the driver was “visibly intoxicated, uncooperative, and attempting to leave the scene.” There were no other occupants in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Navajo Police Department Chief of Police Phillip Francisco released a prepared statement:
“I am committed to restoring values of responsiveness, reliability and trustworthiness to this department. A step in honoring my commitment is to acknowledge when alleged criminal conduct occurs by our staff and to be transparent with you, the public. I will not tolerate this sort of conduct from our officers. We are entrusted with the safety of the public. It is the oath we took and we will hold ourselves to a higher standard because of our renewed commitment.”
He added: “The Navajo Police Department will take the necessary steps to hold our officers accountable for any misconduct that occurs while employed with this department.”
In compliance with Navajo Nation privacy laws, the identity of the officer is not being released at this time.
The incident is currently under investigation and no additional information will be released at this stage, the news release said.
