Virginia Beach Police Officer Charged With DUI

Virginia Beach Police Officer Stephane Prevot was charged with both DUI and hit and run after striking a mailbox on Saturday morning. According to news reports, a pedestrian was walking her dog when she came upon Prevot stuck in a ditch. He was flinging mud around, trying to free his vehicle. When he finally got free, he hit a mailbox before leaving the scene.

This is the second Virginia Beach police officer to be arrested for DUI recently. Officer Bryan Womble has left the force since being convicted after an incident in June of this year. He was charged with DUI and hit and run. He received a mandatory five days in jail, a twelve month license suspension, a five hundred dollar fine, and he had to enroll in alcohol awareness classes. He was also ordered to use an ignition interlock device for six months.

Womble was a celebrated member of the police department’s Traffic Safety Unit, which is responsible for stopping impaired driving. Womble was the officer who arrested NFL star Bruce Smith for DUI in May, just one month before he, himself was caught. Shouldn’t our government see that we have a serious problem on our hands when the very people who are paid to keep drunk drivers off of our streets are being charged and convicted with DUI? Maybe with our judgment impaired by alcohol, it isn't as easy as it should be to make a driving decision.  Shouldn't ignition interlocks be required to help us make that choice?