San Juan County Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O’Brien was arrested Sept. 15 and charged with a misdemeanor count of aggravated DWI and cited with leaving the scene of an accident after crashing into a retaining wall.
O’Brien, 53, has been placed on administrative leave “until further notice” pending an internal and external investigation, according to San Juan County District Attorney Rick Tedrow.
“I’m very disheartened to hear this news,” Tedrow told the Tri-City Record.
Tedrow added he was unable to comment further because it could relate to a personnel matter.
Farmington Police officers were called at 1:26 p.m. Sept. 15, to a home in the 900 block of Gladeview Drive in response to a vehicle hitting a retaining wall. The driver allegedly walked away, leaving his gray 2022 Dodge Ram 1500 on the property “parked against the retaining wall, with what appeared to be several areas that had been impacted from the truck,” according to the statement of probable cause.
The officer stated he walked around the truck and “observed heavy damage to the driver-side and passenger-side front bumpers and the driver-side rear bumper was directly against the retaining wall,” according to the statement of probable cause.
The officer conducted the tow inventory, and allegedly observed “two 375ml bottles of Canadian Mist whiskey under the driver’s seat,” and both had broken seals. One container was empty, and the second had “approximately half its contents consumed,” according to the statement of probable cause.
The homeowner whose wall was struck by the truck provided law enforcement with a Ring camera video that reportedly showed a man “wearing a red flannel shirt, brown shorts, and flip-flops, walking northbound from the residence.” The officer stated in the probable cause statement that he recognized the man as O’Brien.
O’Brien reportedly was found around 2 p.m. in the same clothing in front of the Speedway in the 1900 block of North Dustin Avenue. The officer questioned him, and O’Brien reportedly “admitted to consuming 1-2 alcoholic drinks and said he was safe to drive,” according to the probable cause the statement.
O’Brien, who reportedly “refused to provide a breath sample,” did complete three standard field sobriety tests, in which the officer stated that O’Brien “appeared to struggle to maintain his balance as his body was swaying from side to side.”
The officer also noted in the probable cause statement that there was “a heavy odor of alcohol from his exhaled breath.”
O’Brien reportedly told the officer that he “was not ‘feeling good,” and did not feel well enough to drive. He also refused medical attention, according to the probable cause statement.
O’Brien was arrested and booked into the San Juan County Detention Center. He was released Sept. 16 on his own recognizance.
Private Attorney Mitch Burns entered his appearance as O’Brien’s attorney and made a motion requesting discovery, a certificate of disclosure, a speedy trial and demand for a jury trial.
