Officer Glenn Mearls & Officer Josh Calder Both Charged with DWI

FARMINGTON

The off-duty Farmington police officer accused of crashing his truck into city vehicles while intoxicated on prescription medication was fired in December following an internal investigation of the crash, city officials said Tuesday.

Glenn Mearls, a 14-year veteran of the department who worked with the bomb squad, crashed his personal truck Nov. 12 into two city vehicles parked outside the Farmington Police Station. Mearls was not scheduled to begin a shift at the time.

The 43-year-old officer was charged with DWI following the accident, which caused significant damage to one of the city's vehicles. Police who investigated the incident reported Mearls likely was under the influence of a sleep aid at the time of the crash.

The criminal charge is pending in magistrate court.

Farmington City Manager Rob Mayes said he fired Mearls on Dec. 19 after consulting with police administrators, who recommended termination after conducting an independent investigation of the crash.

"All of our officers deserve our support and have a right to due process under both the law and administratively under city of Farmington personnel rules. However, when serious lines are crossed, as with any of our city employees, we have no choice but to take serious action," Mayes said in a prepared statement.

Mearls has formally appealed his termination, Mayes said.

"I don't think he should have been charged at all. ... He had taken a prescription medication. He hadn't violated any laws," said attorney Steve Murphy, representing Mearls. "Officer Mearls was a very fine officer and the city acted in haste. We look forward to the appeal in district court of his termination."
Contact information for the former officer is not publicly listed.

DWI charges also are pending against a second Farmington police officer, Josh Calder, who is accused of drunken driving after crashing a motorcycle on San Juan Boulevard in August.

A termination decision in that case is dependent on the magistrate court's findings of guilt of the DWI charge, the city manager said.

Mearls, however, was fired from the department before being convicted of a DWI.

"Every situation involving city employees is unique and must be looked at under its own merit. We thoroughly investigate the issue at hand and make the appropriate decision," Mayes said.

The city manager declined to comment on what factors differentiated the two officers' DWI circumstances.

Mearls' attorney claimed city officials

treated the former officer differently than other officers in a similar situation.

"It's a double standard the city is using," Murphy said.

Police officers recognize they are held to a higher standard, Deputy Chief Kyle Westall said, and serious consequences are appropriate when officers make bad decisions.

"We all know when we decide to be police officers that with more responsibility comes more accountability," Westall said. "At the same time, you have to remember that police officers are people just like anybody else and they're susceptible to the mistakes that everyone else makes."