King's County S
heriff Dave Robinson says it can happen in the best of departments. On June 4th, CHP arrested Officer Scott Ward for allegedly driving into work drunk.
On June 8th, another Kings County deputy drove into a field in Hanford. He was arrested for DUI but not booked.
"Dumb luck for lack of better terms. things like this do happen; we generally don't have them back to back." Sheriff Robinson said.
Mary Stroup lives near the field where the deputy crashed.
"He lost control and got himself buried into the field out there," she explained.
Other locals are calling on the department for accountability.
"Its embarrassing ... We pay taxes for that? Said Zach Hall.
The Sheriff responded, "It's a very stressful job and that's not to make any excuses because we won't do that but they are human beings and we will work with them to try to get not only the department through it but the employees through it as well."
The Sheriff says intervention and education programs are available. But for now, the officers--both 10 year veterans with the department-- are on paid administrative pending a 2-month investigation; disciplinary action will wait until the investigation is complete.
"There's a process after all documentation is received as far as what next step is as far as when they come back to work or if they come back to work," he said.
