Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990 TAG: 9007170244
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lt. George W. Sutherland, 47, entered the plea during a hearing in Roanoke General District Court.
Judge Edward S. Kidd imposed a suspended $350 fine and a suspended 30-day jail sentence and ordered Sutherland to attend alcohol-safety classes - the standard punishment for first-time offenders.
Sutherland was arrested early July 11 after state Trooper C.D. Jessee spotted him speeding south on 581 near the Liberty Road overpass.
Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell said that Sutherland called him the morning after he was arrested and said he did not wish to fight the charge in court.
A hearing had been scheduled for July 31, but Monday's plea was arranged late last week to expedite the case, Caldwell said.
Few details of Sutherland's arrest came out in Monday's hearing, although authorities have said that Sutherland was on his way home from a bachelor party for a fellow police officer when he was arrested.
Sutherland was cooperative and consented to a test that showed his blood-alcohol content was .11 percent. The level at which someone is considered too drunk to drive is .10 percent.
Sutherland, who has been with the Police Department for more than 20 years, also had been charged with reckless driving - speeding at 80 mph in a 55-mph zone. But that charge was dismissed Monday after he pleaded guilty to drunken driving.
Four vice detectives attended Sutherland's hearing in an apparent show of support. Sutherland and Caldwell shook hands after the hearing.
The red Porsche that Sutherland was driving previously had belonged to Ronny Grogan, a high school football star and suspected drug dealer who was killed last year in a drug-related shooting.
Following Grogan's death, federal agents seized the car and turned it over to the city Police Department for use in undercover operations.
Police Chief M. David Hooper has said that the car was not authorized for personal use. Sutherland was not on duty at the time of his arrest.
Hooper had said earlier that Sutherland would remain on leave until his case is handled both internally and in court.
Sutherland is the second high-ranking police officer to be convicted of drunken driving in the past three months.
In May, the head of the Roanoke Police Academy was convicted of driving drunk on his way home from a poker game in Roanoke County on March 17.
John S. Barrett was fined $100, received a 30-day suspended jail sentence and was ordered to attend alcohol-safety classes. Barrett was allowed to keep his position in the department after the matter was handled internally.
by CNB