A Tempe patrol officer has resigned after being involved in what appear to have been some bizarre incidents over the last several days.
The first series of events began this past Friday evening, when police in Gilbert were called to investigate alleged threats by Officer Garrett Peterson against his ex-wife. The threats, police say, consisted of text and telephone messages. While police were at the home of the ex-wife investigating the situation, they say that Peterson drove by her home. Peterson’s car was later stopped by DPS officials at the on-ramp to westbound Loop 202. Peterson’s passenger, an unidentified female, left the vehicle, but Peterson refused to leave the car, and “displayed a pistol.”
After 45 minutes of negotiations led by SWAT teams, Peterson eventually gave up his weapon and surrendered. He was charged with endangerment, threatening or intimidating, extreme DUI, reckless driving (allegedly traveling at 120 mph), and flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle. That’s quite a litany for just a couple of hours of work. But police say that Peterson wasn’t done yet. He was booked into Maricopa County jail on the charges, and on Monday morning, after his initial court appearance, he posted $10,000 bond and was released and placed on house arrest. He allegedly proceeded to drive toward southern Arizona, and when he was nearing Yuma, he was involved in a head-on crash with a commercial vehicle on Interstate 8. Officials state that at the time of the collision, Peterson was traveling 90 miles per hour, and was being pursued by deputies.
We assume there will be a lot more heard about this case, but in the meantime, Mr. Peterson will have his hands full. He’s facing a number of felony charges, in addition to extreme DUI (class 1 misdemeanor), reckless driving (class 2 misdemeanor), and threatening or intimidating (usually a class 1 misdemeanor). They include:
- Endangerment. Under A.R.S. 13-1201, endangerment is a misdemeanor, except, as is alleged here, where the conduct involved a substantial risk if imminent death or injury. In that case, it is a class 6 felony.
- Unlawful flight. If you drive a motor vehicle and flee (or attempt to flee) from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle with appropriate lights and markings, the charge is a class 5 felony.
Of course, we don’t know the details, or the reasons why these events transpired, or even whether the reports are true. But assuming there is some truth to them, our guess is that an important factor in the entire series of bizarre events is evidenced by one of the (non-felony) charges that Peterson is now facing – extreme DUI, which translates into a blood alcohol content, alleged in this case, of at least 0.15.
The Feldman Law Firm PLLC
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Phoenix, AZ 85004
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