EAGLE, Idaho — A Boise Police officer was cited early Monday morning for driving under the influence.
Officials with Boise Police Department (BPD) and the Ada County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) told 7 Investigates that an Eagle Police officer pulled over Casey Hancuff around 1:00 a.m. on May 15 because he was driving erratically on Highway 44 in Eagle.
Hancuff was off duty and driving his own truck.
The Ada County Sheriff's Office said the responding officer smelled alcohol and Hancuff was slurring his words. Officer Hancuff failed field sobriety tests and blew a .111, well over the legal limit of .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) for driving, according to the sheriff’s office.
If his name sounds familiar, it's because KTVB has interviewed him multiple times, specifically talking about his career focused on DUI patrols, enforcement and education.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has given him awards, and BPD touts his thousands of DUI arrests over the past 20 years.
Boise Police Department Spokesperson Haley Williams said they're aware of Hancuff's DUI charge. She said their internal affairs (IA) will review the criminal report and investigation. Once his criminal case is done, IA will figure out whether Hancuff violated BPD policies.
KTVB’s Morgan Romero asked if Hancuff was taken off his regular duties, including DUI enforcement, to which Williams responded, “he is not on patrol or in the field."
KTVB also asked the sheriff's office why he was cited with misdemeanor DUI and not arrested.
ACSO Spokesman Patrick Orr said responding officers learned Hancuff was dealing with health issues unrelated to the DUI, so officers decided not to arrest him. Police took Hancuff to his house nearby.
Orr said deputies in the field can decide whether to immediately arrest or cite someone for misdemeanor DUI, but it's much more common to arrest. In fact, since January, ACSO deputies have charged 142 people with DUI and only 16 of them were given citations.
Boise Police Union President Guy Bourgeau shared context with KTVB around what happened as someone who's known Hancuff for more than two decades.
"To put a little context around the situation - this is certainly not an excuse - Casey had a lot going on in his personal life including the death of a family member and a recent cancer diagnosis which, speaking from experience, I can tell you is a pretty stressful thing to go through. Again, not an excuse. It just puts a little sunlight on the situation," Bourgeau said. "Casey is gonna be 100-percent accountable as far as the court process goes and he's going to be facing internal consequences as well that are going to affect his career."
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