By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
PIEDMONT – A Piedmont firefighter has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, but remains an active employee in the department.
Brandon Jeter was charged with a misdemeanor DUI, transporting an open container and improper lane change in Canadian County District Court last Friday.
He was initially suspended from employment with the Piedmont department, but “soon thereafter” was allowed to return to work, City Manager Jason Orr said Tuesday.
“We’re still reviewing the situation,” Orr said. “There’s not been a conviction and his driver’s license hasn’t been suspended.”
City policy would preclude him from employment in the event his driver’s license is suspended, the city’s human resource director Robin Murray said.
Jeter was arrested Friday, April 27 around 3 a.
m. in Yukon after his breathalyzer test showed he was at least two times over the legal alcohol limit, a police report showed at the time.
An officer stopped Jeter after noticing his vehicle swerved several times halfway into the other lane. Jeter had an open can of beer and knocked over another can of beer in the floor when reaching for his insurance verification, the report states.
Jeter failed the field sobriety test and agreed to take the breathalyzer which read 0.19.
No one else was present in the vehicle.
Court records do not show any previous DUI charges or convictions for Jeter.
