Police Officer Drives After Drinking, Crashes Into Fountain, Flees the Scene of an Accident, Abandons Car with Gun Inside, and Then Lies to Police . . . And Is Charged With Criminal Damage

Brent Frasier, an eight-year veteran of the Mesa, Arizona police department, is facing remarkably light charges after he crashed his car into a public fountain, fled the scene of the accident and left his car with his badge, Glock handgun, and a clip for an AR15 rifle. He later lied to police about the incident. There has been controversy over the fact that he will be charged with only public damage and false statements in the case.

Frasier reportedly appeared to blame his brother, telling police that he had loaned his car to his brother and that “[h]e had received a call from his brother telling him he had hit something and the vehicle was stuck and Brent needed to come and assist him with the vehicle.” He also reportedly admitted to drinking before driving.

Many wonder why police seem able to proliferate charges for the most minor offenses of citizens, but seem far more circumspect when dealing with fellow officers, such as the recent case out of Chattanooga.

It may have been too late to do a sobriety test, but there remains questions over why he was not charged with fleeing the scene of an accident or abandoning the gun and ammo. Leaving a loaded Glock in a public area with a clip to an AR15 is a pretty dangerous act.

Obviously, his police career is over. One has to be a bit suspicious about the possibility of drunk driving as the reason for fleeing the scene. Otherwise, if he had remained and was sober, he would have been treated as a bad driver.

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