An off-duty Council Bluffs police officer who was named Officer of the Year earlier this year was arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated Oct. 19 in rural Mills County.
Officer Terry Cozad, 38, a member of the Council Bluffs Police Department since 1999, was pulled over by a Mills County Sheriff's Deputy around 8 p.m. along U.S. Highway 275 north of Glenwood.
A Glenwood address is listed for Cozad on an arrest report.
After he was pulled over, the deputy determined Cozad was under the influence of alcohol. Cozad refused a breath alcohol test at the scene to determine his blood alcohol level, according to Mills County Sheriff Mack Taylor. Cozad was arrested and charged with suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Cozad posted bail and was later released.
A Nov. 3 preliminary hearing has been set.
Neither Cozad nor his attorney, Joseph Hrvol of Council Bluffs, could be reached for comment.
A first offense conviction for operating a vehicle while intoxicated is a serious misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1,500. A conviction may also result in suspension of driving privileges.
Council Bluffs Police Chief Keith Mehlen said his department was aware of the incident and that Cozad has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Cozad was the recipient of the department's Officer of the Year award in May for his work with the Police Area Representative Unit (PARU), a special unit dedicated to community policing, gang identification and cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Cozad was awarded the department's Medal of Valor in 2006 after preventing a carjacking. In that incident Cozad shot and killed John Raymond Bothwell after Bothwell backed a stolen vehicle into another officer. The Pottawattamie County Attorney concluded Cozad acted appropriately in the case.
The Oct. 19 incident isn't Cozad's first with Mills County officers. In a July 2001 incident Cozad was charged with first-degree harassment and interference with official acts while armed with a firearm in connection with a 40-minute standoff with Glenwood Police and Mills County Sheriff's Deputies.
In the 2001 incident, officers were called to a domestic dispute at 1102 Sixth St. in Glenwood. When officers arrived, they found Cozad in the driveway of the residence locked in his sport utility vehicle with a firearm. After 40 minutes of communication between officers and Cozad he surrendered to police. Cozad was transported to Council Bluffs hospital for an evaluation.
The harassment charge was later dropped and Cozad received a deferred judgement on an amended interference charge. He was ordered to serve 40 hours of community service and undergo an alcohol evaluation.
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