Sheriff’s Merit Board members deciding the employment fate of a high-ranking Lake County police officer heard police testimony Thursday and saw detention room video of the officer accused of a hit-and-run drunken driving crash Super Bowl Sunday that left two people injured.
In the video, Lt. David Britton, 46, of Cedar Lake, slurred his speech, swore at arresting officers and asked why they were not cutting him a break as he sat in the Crown Point detention area where Sgt. Frank DeFazio administered the Breathalyzer test.
On the video, Britton told the arresting officers his career would be in trouble if he was charged. He repeatedly used an expletive to describe DeFazio’s role in processing him.
Britton is facing four disciplinary charges leveled against him by Sheriff John Buncich before the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Merit Board stemming from the Feb. 1 drunken driving arrest. Buncich is seeking Britton’s termination. Britton has pleaded not guilty.
The opening day of what was expected to be a one-day hearing primarily laid the foundation for admitting the detention room video. DeFazio will continue testimony at 1 p.m. Thursday, followed by crash victims and a witness. Adam Sedia, attorney for Britton, will then present his defense. If the merit board decides the charges are valid, a second phase of the hearing will take place to determine what action will be taken.
“We believe at the conclusion of all the evidence you will find all four disciplinary charges were committed by Lt. Britton,” John Bushemi, the sheriff’s attorney, said in his opening remarks.
Sedia in his opening statement his client acknowledges drinking and driving but said the call for his termination is too harsh a punishment. Sedia said suspension and demotion would more in line with the charges.
“He has owned up to what he’s done and is actively seeking help,” Sedia said.
Buncich filed disciplinary charges Feb. 4 with the merit board seeking to have Britton fired.
Crown Point police investigating the hit-and-run crash that injured two people at Main Street and 97th Place said Britton’s blood-alcohol level was 0.24 percent, three times the legal limit.
Britton was commander of the sheriff department’s Gang Intelligence Unit at the time of the crash. Buncich demoted him to the rank of lieutenant and placed him on paid administrative leave Feb. 4. State law requires police and fire officials facing misdemeanor charges to be paid while on administrative leave, Bushemi said.
Charges with the merit board accuse Britton of going against board rules by violating state statute, committing conduct unbecoming an officer, violating department rules and regulations, and committing acts that bring or tend to bring the individual and the sheriff’s department into disrepute.
Britton has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges as well. In the criminal case he is challenging the procedures followed in the chemical test, defense attorney John Cantrell said. A hearing on the motion to suppress has been scheduled for 1 p.m. May 5 before Schererville Town Court Judge Kenneth Anderson.
A similar motion filed before the merit board was denied.
