Drunk driving
According to Arkansas Code 5-65-103: It is illegal and punishable, as provided in this chapter, for a person to operate or have actual physical control of a motorboat on the waters of this state or motor vehicle if at that time the alcohol concentration in the person’s breath or blood was eight hundredths (0.08) or more under the definition of alcohol concentration at the article 5-65-204.
Source: Arkansas Code
FAYETTEVILLE — Sabrina Mason, detention captain with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, was fired after being arrested Thursday night for drunk driving and left-of-center driving.
Mason, 44, of West Fork, was taken to Washington County Jail at 1:25 a.m. Friday and released at 1:45 a.m. without bail. She is due to appear in Greenland District Court on April 25.
Mason was driving an unmarked sheriff’s office vehicle assigned to him at the time of his arrest, according to information posted on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page. Mason, who had been in the sheriff’s office since Jan. 19, 1998, was fired, according to Sheriff Tim Helder. Helder said Mason violated a number of sheriff’s office policies.
“All of our people know they’re held to a higher standard,” Helder said. “Driving an assigned public vehicle, drinking while driving and being arrested, I have zero tolerance for that kind of business.”
Mason was arrested after a West Fork officer saw her leaving the Tobo gas station parking lot around 11:15 p.m. preliminary police report.
As he began to pull out of the gas station parking lot, the officer saw a silver 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe attempt to turn left to exit the parking lot. The Tahoe was parked to the left side of the driveway, and other vehicles were slowing down to avoid hitting it as they entered the parking lot.
The officer saw the Tahoe turn east on Wilson Street and began following it, according to the report. As the driver continued east, the vehicle straddled the center line. The Tahoe then drifted off the roadway and onto the shoulder before returning to the eastbound lane.
The officer continued to follow the Tahoe until it turned the wrong way onto an off-ramp for Interstate 49, according to the report. At that point, the officer turned on his hazard lights and the Tahoe pulled to a stop at the side of the road.
The officer spoke with Mason and noticed a strong smell of intoxicants, according to the report. The officer heard law enforcement radio traffic coming from the Tahoe and asked Mason who she worked for, and she confirmed that she worked for the sheriff’s office. During the conversation, Mason asked the officer not to release her name and said she was a captain in the sheriff’s office, according to the report.
The officer administered a preliminary breath test, which returned a result of 0.171, and asked Mason to take a field sobriety test, which indicated that she was intoxicated. A second preliminary breath test showed a result of 0.194, according to the report.
Under Arkansas law, it is illegal for a person to operate a motor vehicle if, at the time, their breath or blood alcohol concentration was 0.08 or higher.
Mason was arrested and taken to the Farmington Police Department where a blood alcohol test was administered. This test showed a result of 0.181, according to the report. Mason was then taken to Washington Regional Medical Center for another test, but she refused to take the test and was later taken to jail.
