The Washington Post
February 28, 2003 Friday
Final Edition
Two Sentenced in Va. Bar Sweep Dispute Police
BYLINE: Carol Morello, Washington Post Staff Writer
SECTION: METRO; Pg. B05
LENGTH: 846 words
On karaoke night at a crowded Reston bar just before
Christmas, Daniel Crowley had at least six beers at a stage side table where he
sat with three friends.
The mortgage broker had no idea that the attractive man and
woman eyeing him from their stools were plainclothes Fairfax County police
officers. Their mission was to observe drunks in bars so uniformed officers
could arrest them on charges of being drunk in public.
No one had complained about Crowley's behavior, and one of
his friends was the night's designated driver. But Crowley was about to be
caught up in a police operation that was designed to deter intoxicated drivers,
but has subsequently been criticized as heavy-handed and unfair.
"I didn't know what was going on," Crowley
testified yesterday in Fairfax County General District Court, where he
contested the charge before Judge Michael Cassidy. "I'd paid my tab, and I
was ready to go home."
More than two months after police raided bars in Herndon and
Reston on five nights during the holiday season, several of the nine men
charged with public drunkenness are challenging their arrests.
Police have called the sweep a success and noted that
defendants who agreed to breathalyzer tests registered blood-alcohol levels
ranging from 0.14 to 0.22. But civil libertarians, restaurateurs and many
patrons contend police arrested people who were drinking responsibly and
causing no commotion. Under Virginia law, public intoxication is a low-level misdemeanor
punishable by a night in jail and a fine of up to $ 250.
Crowley and Michael Damkot had trials yesterday. Cassidy
ruled that both men were intoxicated in public and ordered them to perform 25
hours of community service. No conviction will go on their records. Two other
defendants have attorneys and will appear before Cassidy later.
Only two defendants pleaded guilty. Three others were
convicted and fined $ 35 when they did not appear in court yesterday.
"I'm happy with the outcome," said Damkot, 24, of
Herndon, who represented himself. "I don't necessarily agree with the
tactic. But the law is the law. I broke it, and I'll pay my penance to
society."
Damkot acknowledged that he was intoxicated the night he was
arrested at Champps in Reston. Fairfax County police officers testified that
they noticed him because of his bloodshot eyes and overheard him tell a young
woman that he intended to drive home. After ordering him a glass of water, the
woman told the undercover officers that she wanted to keep him from doing
"anything stupid," police testified.
But Damkot said he had no car to drive that night.
"I didn't have a vehicle there," he said. "I
had no intention of driving. I knew I'd been in a bar, and I was
drinking."
In sentencing Damkot to 25 hours of public service, Cassidy
lectured him about the dangers of drinking too much -- even in a tavern. Under
Virginia law, a bar is a public place.
"Just because you're in a bar doesn't mean you can get
wiped out," Cassidy told Damkot. "You could be a danger to yourself
and a threat to the public."
Crowley and his drinking companions disputed police
testimony that they observed him spilling beer in his lap, slurring his speech
and having trouble staying upright on his seat.
"He was at a table with a group, and his behavior stood
out from all the others," said Fairfax County Police Sgt. O.W. Elam.
Under cross-examination from Crowley's attorney, police
acknowledged that neither they nor bar patrons had complained that Crowley was
acting unruly or meddlesome. They also testified that he did not disobey their
orders, even though he declined to submit to a breathalyzer test.
Crowley, 29, testified that he has a chronic problem with
red eyes and pulled from his pocket a bottle of eyedrops that he said he uses
every day.
Wendy Richards, a friend who was drinking beer with him that
night, denied that Crowley showed any symptoms of intoxication. She testified
that she had been chatting with the two undercover officers, not realizing they
were anything but customers.
"They humiliated me," she said after the hearing.
"They used me as a decoy."
Jacob Perkins, an attorney for Crowley, argued that Crowley
should not have been arrested because he was not bothering anyone.
"There's a difference between being drunk in public and being rowdy and
drunk in public," he said.
After the hearing, Crowley decried the police sweep and said
he no longer frequents bars in Fairfax.
"I'm not happy with the way they can walk into a
restaurant and do as they please," he said of police. "I don't want
to go to places in the atmosphere where you don't know who is who."
The operation was defended by Ron Miner, a member of the
Fairfax County DWI oversight committee, who attended court to observe the
proceedings. Miner noted that police launched the raids after responding to bar
fights at several taverns.
"They were trying to have a high-visibility presence in
the area," he said. "It's an effort to try to deter violent behavior
and keep people from driving drunk. . . . I think it was good public
awareness."