Veteran TPD officer accused of DUI

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Lupita Murillo - View Bio

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A veteran Tucson police officer now faces DUI charges.

On October 13th, Doug Reid was pulled over at 22nd Street and Avenida Cirio at 4 a.m. Reid was originally pulled over for not having a license plate on his car.  However, after making contact with Reid, the police officer suspected he was driving under the influence. 

In a police report detailing officer Doug Reid's DUI arrest, the arresting officer wrote:

"He has some dexterity problems removing his wallet [...] He slurred his words too badly for me to understand," says the officer in the report. "I noticed a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from the vehicle."

Also in the report, when Reid was asked to get out of the car, the officer noted, "(Reid) did so with such difficulty that he needed to steady himself against the door of his vehicle to exit." 

At this point the officer asked Reid to perform a series of field sobriety tests. Reid refused and he also refused a breathalyzer test. Reid was handcuffed and driven to the Rincon substation where a warrant was obtained to draw blood to test his blood alcohol level.

The officer's report reads:  "Throughout the trip to the substation, Reid complained about being arrested and used profanity. He told me that I was wrecking his career and that we were supposed to look out for each other."

Mike Gillooly, a Tucson Police Captain, says, "Officer Reid is still on duty even after he's had a DUI arrest because he is afforded the same rights as any member of our community and that's the right to due process."

However, there is an ongoing internal investigation. "Contingent upon the results of that investigation we'll determine the future of Officer Reid with our department," said Gillooly.

Captain Gillooly also said he has concerns about Officer Reid allegedly driving without license plate, having beer in his car, and refusing to take a breathalyzer test.

"You know all those things are troubling to us too I can tell you we are very deeply concerned about that. We will find out why all those things occurred," says Gillooly.

In an effort to be balanced, we went to the Santa Cruz substation where Officer Reid is working and asked to give us his side of the story, he declined to be interviewed.

Doug Reid has a court appearance in municipal court on November 30th.