Doraville PD releasing some drivers charged with DUI, while others go to jail

DORAVILLE, Ga. - It’s a lucky break for a drunk driver caught by police: The driver fails every sobriety test, the officer files DUI charges, but instead of heading to jail, the officer lets the driver go.

In the case of DeKalb County Commission candidate and former Doraville Councilman Andy Yeoman, the lucky break included a ride home from a Doraville police officer, after Yeoman allegedly crashed into a stopped car below the Interstate 285 overpass on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, injuring a woman.

For other people accused of driving under the influence in Doraville, it meant being released to a wife or girlfriend, or being driven to a convenience store to be picked up by a friend, the FOX 5 I-Team found in a review of police records.

But the I-Team found not everyone accused of the misdemeanor crime has been granted such leniency, with others taken to the Memorial Drive lockup to be booked, photographed, fingerprinted, and held until they post bond. Doraville says it decides who goes to jail, and who doesn’t, based on its staffing levels during a given shift.

Steve Nasta, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD inspector, said this isn’t normal police procedure.

"Because if we allow a person to go home, we don't know whether he's going to continue drinking and get back in another car and go on a road again and endanger other people," Nasta said. "I would say the person who gets injured, or the relative … would have a huge lawsuit against the city, and rightfully so."

For Yeoman, not being booked meant not having his name in the jail log and no arrest photo taken, which the news media could have accessed during his unsuccessful bid to represent the area on the county commission. 

For other people, not being booked can mean not losing their jobs.

"There's certainly a huge benefit to not be taken to jail on the night that you're being accused of committing a crime," said Dunwoody attorney Justin Spizman, who specializes in DUI cases, including dozens of cases per year in Doraville. "Any time someone is taken to jail, they're fingerprinted, they're photographed, and the information goes on the jail booking website."

"That has sweeping ramifications," the attorney said. "From their employer being able to search and see that they had an employee that was arrested, to a million other things that could happen."

Yeoman’s wreck happened early on a Saturday in March, with Yeoman taken to the Doraville police station and blowing 0.112 on a breath test, well over the legal limit of 0.08. According to an incident report, Yeoman told police he had been drinking Grey Goose vodka and cranberry juice the night before.

An officer then gave Yeoman a lift home, about two miles away.

Yeoman resigned from city council earlier this year to run for the commission seat, with the endorsement of Doraville’s mayor. He lost to Democratic incumbent Robert Patrick for the District 1 commission seat on Tuesday, with Patrick taking 71% of the vote. 

Yeoman told the I-Team he does not believe police gave him special treatment in March. He pleaded not guilty to the DUI charge in Doraville Municipal Court this month and asked to have his case transferred to State Court. 

"While I am not a police policy expert," he said in a written statement, "I believe that the prevailing narrative surrounding this incident has little merit. If it does, it was wrong and should be addressed."

Police Chief Chuck Atkinson declined to speak with the FOX 5 I-Team about the release of Yeoman and others charged with drunk driving, but a city spokeswoman issued a lengthy written statement – denying police did any favors for the ex-councilman, instead blaming a recent policy change by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail.

"The decision made in the case of Mr. Yeoman was in no way influenced by his previous leadership position for the city," the statement said, "but was made to ensure Doraville Police were able to continue providing the services Doraville residents need and expect from them."

The statement explained that, on March 13, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office announced its deputies won't handle security at hospitals anymore for felony suspects who need medical treatment before going to jail, shifting that responsibility to DeKalb’s police departments.

The morning of March 23, Doraville police had just four officers on duty, with a fifth posted at Grady Memorial Hospital with a suspected drug dealer injured in a foot chase, according to city records. Previously, such guard duty would have been handled by a sheriff’s deputy.

Records reviewed by the I-Team show the suspect at Grady had been bitten in the arm by a police dog, then punched in the side several times by an officer when he resisted being handcuffed.

Police that morning "were burdened with the responsibility of sitting with the arrestee twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, until they completed medical treatment on Tuesday, March 26th. As a result, Doraville Police were forced to operate short-staffed during this time," the city’s statement said.

Because Yeoman’s airbag went off in the wreck, the DeKalb County jail wouldn’t have admitted him without clearance from a medical facility – tying up an officer further.

"This policy shift from DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and the impact it has had, is what forced Doraville Police to make the difficult decision to release Mr. Yeoman on a copy of his charges rather than escort him to Grady Memorial and on to DeKalb County Jail," the statement said.

The FOX 5 I-Team examined every DUI arrest in Doraville since the date of the sheriff's policy change. Of 13 people charged, seven went to jail. Six, including Yeoman, went home.

In an April incident, a report says a 37-year-old woman crashed into another car on I-285, then went to Grady with a gash on her head "to be medically cleared due to her being in an accident." Police then drove her to the DeKalb jail.

Two days later, a 36-year-old man crashed into an I-285 guardrail. Asked by police if he knew the time of day, he said around 10:30 p.m., when it was actually almost 4 a.m. The report says the man was "released to his wife."

In another case, a 49-year-old man found asleep at the wheel of a van parked in a stranger’s yard went to jail.

But then a 24-year-old man accused of rear-ending another car, who refused to take a breath test, got a ride from a police officer "to QuickTrip where he was given copies of his citations and released to his girlfriend." The incident report even spells out the reasoning: "… Due to the Dekalb County Jail’s policies and lack of manpower from the Doraville Police Department at the time, (the suspect) was cited and released."

Spizman, the DUI attorney, said if he found out a client had gone to jail while other suspects charged with the same misdemeanor crime had gone free, he’d make an issue out of it – maybe using it to cross-examine the arresting officer or in arguments to the jury.

"Whatever their policy is, it needs to be a policy that is applied 100 times out of 100 in the same way," Spizman said. "Otherwise, you put yourself in a position where you can be questioned for saying, ‘Well, are we picking and choosing? Are we giving preferential treatment?’"

Nasta, of John Jay College, said if a department treats people differently for the same infraction, it’s only a matter of time before the department gets accused of favoritism.

"They have to have some rule where everyone that's arrested has to be brought to jail – even if it’s a problem with personnel, if it's a problem with bringing someone in on overtime," Nasta said. "You could end up losing a lot of support from different people if it's shown that there’s a pattern of you treating people unfairly."

Doraville Mayor Joseph Geierman said he trusts his police department to do the right thing, pointing to the burden the sheriff’s office has placed on the city.

"I think everybody should be treated fairly," the mayor said. "But at the same time, you have to look at the broader situation."

"I certainly hope the sheriff is able to revise her policy," he added.

If not, Council Member Stephe Koontz said, the city may have to revisit its budget to hire more police officers.

"We've got an intergovernmental agreement with DeKalb County where they get a portion of the taxes to provide jail services," Koontz said. "And now DeKalb County is shifting that part of their jail services back to the city. And that feels like an unfunded mandate to me."

The I-Team tried repeatedly to get information from the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office about the policy change and requested an interview with Sheriff Melody Maddox. 

The sheriff’s office said Wednesday that guarding inmates was never mandated by policy, pointing out that state law allows jails to turn away inmates who need medical treatment for injuries, with responsibility placed on "the arresting agency to take the individual to a health care facility or health care provider in order to secure a medical release."

"At one time," a spokeswoman said in an email, "the Sheriff’s Office extended a courtesy and offered assistance to municipalities by sending an Officer or Deputy to the hospital to relieve the police department, if the arrestee was forecasted to have an extended stay in the hospital. However again, this was a courtesy only, and is not mandated by any policy."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office's written statement provided on May 22.