An off-duty Tucson police officer was arrested on suspicion of DUI after he was found slumped over the steering wheel of a car that had crashed into a parked vehicle, department records show.
Officer Steven S. Pupkoff, 45, resigned from the Tucson Police Department shortly after the June 26 incident, said Sgt. Pete Dugan, a police spokesman.
Pupkoff was cited and released on charges of DUI impaired to the slightest degree, a misdemeanor, and failure to reduce and control speed to avoid a collision, according to police reports obtained by the Star through a public-records request.
Pupkoff refused to perform a breath test or take field sobriety tests, which may lead to the suspension of his driverβs license. However, he can appeal the order to the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division.
After his arrest, Pupkoff was released to his mother. The records do not indicate Pupkoffβs blood-alcohol content, and a police spokesman said Wednesday those results were not available yet.
A search warrant was obtained to draw Pupkoffβs blood by an officer at Banner-University Medical Center Tucson. Pupkoff may face additional charges once the blood results return, said Dugan.
Pupkoff was assigned to Operations Division Midtown, which has its substation at South Alvernon Way and East 22nd Street. He worked for the department from May 1994 to June 2003, and then from May 2004 to July 2016.
Pupkoff, who was driving a gray 2014 Mazda3, struck a parked 2002 Buick sedan shortly after midnight on East Helen Street, just west of North Park Avenue, according to a police report. The Buick received minor front-end damage.
When Officer David Fritsch approached the vehicle, the engine was running and a man, who later was identified as Pupkoff, βwas in the driverβs seat slumped over the wheel,β states the reports.
Fritsch said the driverβs side door was locked and that he knocked multiple times on the window, causing Pupkoff to slowly wake up. The car was in drive, said Fritsch, adding that he told Pupkoff multiple times to put the car into park.
Pupkoff βappeared confused and did not understand what was going on,β said Fritsch, who identified himself as a police officer. When Pupkoff rolled down the window, Fritsch said he reached inside the car and turned the ignition off.
When Pupkoff stepped out of the car, Fritsch said he told him he was involved in a crash and Pupkoff βshook his head indicating that he understood.β Pupkoff had βbloodshot watery eyesβ and βslurred speechβ, stated the report. Fritsch said he smelled a βfaint odor of intoxicantsβ and observed Pupkoff swaying.
Pupkoff could not provide Tucson Fire Department paramedics with his birthday before he was taken by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries to the hospital.
When asked why Pupkoff was not booked into jail, Dugan said that βin more times than not, a person with a misdemeanor DUI will be released to somebody else. We donβt normally book somebody into jail. It has nothing to do with being an officer. We treat DUIs the same.β
He said someone charged with a misdemeanor DUI may get booked into jail depending on other additional charges, or circumstances that would warrant it. One example, said Dugan, would be someone who is acting unruly, and βwe feel they may cause harm to themselves or someone else.β
After receiving information about the Pupkoff arrest, Tucson attorney Joseph St. Louis, who handles DUI cases and is not associated with this case, spoke in general about the arrest. St. Louis said he was surprised Pupkoff was not charged with a criminal damage citation for crashing into the other car, even if the damage was minor.
St. Louis said he also was surprised that Pupkoff was not booked into jail.
βIt sounds like this person was treated better than a nonofficer would have been. If you or I hit a parked car, did not agree to a field sobriety test, and officers had to get a warrant for a blood draw, we would probably go to jail that night,β said St. Louis.
