CLEARWATER, Fla., Nov. 9 (UPI) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy who showed up drunk to receive an award from Mothers Against Drunk Driving had packed booze for the conference, records revealed.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Szeliga was suspended without pay for one day last month in connection with the July incident, which saw Szeliga being ordered by a superior to skip the MADD dinner where he was to receive an award for making more than 100 DUI arrests.
A sheriff’s office internal affairs report obtained by WFLA-TV revealed there was more to Szeliga’s intoxication at the event than previously reported. The records revealed the deputy had brought a bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey to the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, the location of the conference, and he skipped out on early-day training sessions at the conference.
Szeliga told investigators he drank Jameson cocktails while playing games with two other deputies who were also playing hooky from the training sessions.
The deputy, who is now a detective in the department’s crimes against children unit, encountered Gulfport Police Chief Robert Vincent in a hotel hallway and was reportedly “disrespectful” when the chief confronted him for being intoxicated and asked for his name.
Szeliga’s supervisor barred him from attending the dinner and receiving his award. He was suspended for one day without pay last month and ordered to write a letter of apology to Vincent.
