DWI HIT PARADE: Charles County Sheriff Sgt. Robert Smith Entered Guilty Plea to DWI; Four Days in Anne Arundel Jail In Plea Deal with St. Mary’s States Attorney Jaymi Sterling and FOP Attorney.

Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry Reports that
Sgt. Robert Smith Pleaded Guilty to DUI

  Off-Duty Officer was Suspended and Charged in June

ATTENTION ALL BOOZEHOUND COPS: The Mechanicsville Moose Lodge will serve you until you fall down flat on your face! This joint is even better than the FOP Lodge.

St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department reports that no booking photo of Charles County Sheriff Sgt. Robert Smith exists.

LAPLATA, MD – Sheriff Troy Berry released this comment: “In a commitment to transparency and accountability, Charles County Sheriff Troy D. Berry is informing the public of recent actions involving a Charles County Sheriff’s officer.”
However, Sheriff Berry’s statement failed to include an official photo from his own agency. The above photo was posted on the Facebook page of the agency with him identified with his middle name instead of his first name, which caused a delay in including the photo with this article.

Sheriff Berry reported in a statement released on July 26, 2024, that on June 11, Sgt. Robert Ryan Smith, of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, was suspended with pay after the Agency was informed of charges being placed against him by the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation stemmed from an off-duty incident in Mechanicsville, MD.

On July 25, 2024, Sgt. Smith pled guilty to one count of driving while impaired in St. Mary’s County District Court. In accordance with Agency policy, upon learning of the investigation, the CCSO’s Office of Professional Responsibility launched an administrative investigation, which will be concluded now that the criminal proceedings have been resolved.
St. Mary’s State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling was contacted with a message requesting she explain the plea deal with Charles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Smith and what charges were dropped. When she responds, this story will be updated.

Sgt. Smith was not initially charged with DUI, but other charges, including unauthorized use of a vehicle, were filed.

REPEAT OFFENDER DUI

Maryland Court records show that Robert Ryan Smith was charged with DUI in Wicomico County, Maryland, on January 17, 2010, and that the charges were later dropped by the Wicomico County States Attorney. Wicomico County State’s Attorney Davis Ruark then filed new charges of DUI on January 21, 2010, as charges can be refiled within one year in the case where more time is needed for prosecutors to gather evidence. This time, Smith was found guilty and given a verdict of Probation Before Judgement with a long list of conditions imposed by the court. 

ARREST FOR ALCOHOL IN A PARK

NO GUN FOR THIS COP – MAKE HIM A METER MAID

BOOKED INTO ANNE ARUNDEL JAIL – No booking photo available

Sheriff Berry stated, “This officer’s actions are contrary to the values and professionalism of the Agency. I want to make our community aware of this incident and reassure them that we take these situations seriously and cooperate fully with investigating agencies. The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is committed to maintaining the public’s trust.”

 

ST. MARY’S SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT DUI ARRESTS

7/01/24 – Patrick Clay Murphy, Jr., 34, of Bryans Road, MD, by Deputy First Class John Gardiner for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se, and Driving a Vehicle While impaired by Alcohol.

7/01/24 – Roger Lee Pritchard, 58, of Charlotte Hall, MD, by Deputy Madison Devries for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se, Driving While Impaired by Alcohol, Reckless Driving, and Negligent Driving.

7/03/24 – Michael Joseph Horvat, 53, of California, MD, by Deputy Bianca Melton for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol and Negligent Driving.

7/06/24 – Travis Lowell Briscoe, 32, of Mechanicsville, MD, by Deputy Madison Devries for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se, and related charges.

7/07/24 – John Wayne Caudle, 60, of Mechanicsville, MD, by Deputy Jordan Wagner for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, and related charges.

 

DUIs:

6/29/24 – Patrick O’Neal Johnson, 56, of Waldorf, MD, by Deputy First Class Raymond Allebach for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Impaired by Alcohol, and related charges.

6/30/24 – Holly Nicole Rawlings, 28, of Lexington Park, MD, by Deputy Julian Grant for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se, Driving a Vehicle While Impaired by Alcohol and Attempting to Drive a Vehicle While So Far Impaired by Alcohol Cannot Drive Safely.

 

Repeat Offender DUI in two states

7/08/24 – William Sylvester Douglas, 62, of Colonial Beach, VA, by Deputy Joseph Reppel for Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Negligent Driving, and related charges. NO PHOTO AVAILABLE. Douglas was arrested in Westmoreland County, Virginia, for DUI, and the Commonwealth Attorney dropped the charges. He previously served five years in prison for assault.

Douglas Convicted of Second-Degree Assault on Pregnant Woman in Lexington Park

7/09/24 – Rachel Elizabeth Bowles, 39, of Lexington Park, MD, by Deputy Julian Grant for Driving a Vehicle While Impaired by a Controlled Dangerous Substance, Attempting to Drive a Vehicle While So Far Impaired Cannot Drive Safely, and related charges.

7/11/24 – Emily Jean Peregory, 30, of Charlotte Hall, MD, by Deputy Madison Devries for Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se, Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving While Impaired by Alcohol, and Driving While So Impaired by Alcohol Cannot Drive Safely.

 

DUIs:

6/15/24 – Cheaz Jeremiah Laquinn Porter, 29, of White Plains, MD, by Deputy Paul Rodriguez for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Impaired by Alcohol, and Driving a Vehicle While So Far Impaired by Alcohol Cannot Drive Safely.

6/16/24 – David Lee Lancaster, 68, of Hollywood, MD, by Deputy Erik Fleenor for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol Per Se, Driving While Impaired by Alcohol, and related charges.

 

DUIs:

6/01/24 – Nick Alieu Seisay, 40, of Alexandria, VA, by Deputy Joseph Reppel for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Impaired by Alcohol, Failure to Remain at the Scene of an Accident, and related charges.

6/02/24 – Maureen Genevieve McFadden, 62, of Leonardtown, MD, by Deputy Preston Dixon for Driving a Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol, Driving a Vehicle While Impaired by Alcohol, and related charges.

 

ST. MARY’S DEPUTY CHARGED WITH DWI AND ASSAULT ON A CITIZEN in 2008

Very little difference exists between what the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s internal affairs detectives charged Deputy David Goff with doing when he allegedly accosted and beat up a citizen while drunk and operating a vehicle with his own family as passengers and what was told to ST. MARY’S TODAY by the man who was beaten by the deputy.
The following is a report from the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Department:

On May 20, 2008, Investigators from the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Professional Responsibilities (BPR) served the defendant, David Adam Goff, with a criminal summons charging him with 2nd-degree assault, driving under the influence of alcohol, and other related offenses. 

          The investigation determined that on May 13, 2008, Goff, an off-duty St. Mary’s County deputy sheriff was driving southbound on Rt. 235 in the area of Mattapany Rd. Lexington Park, MD in his personally owned vehicle. Goff observed an ATV being operated on the roadway by Shane Weasenforth.  The ATV was stopped by Goff and an argument ensued.  Mr. Weasenforth allegedly spit at Goff and drove off.  Goff flagged down an on duty deputy sheriff who located the ATV operator.  When Goff and the on-duty deputy sheriff located Mr. Weasenforth, Goff exited the on-duty deputy’s vehicle and approached Mr. Weasenforth. As Goff approached Mr. Weasenforth, Mr. Weasenforth attempted to strike Goff. Mr. Weasenforth was taken to the ground with the assistance of the on-duty deputy, where he briefly struggled against the officers.  Mr. Weasenforth stopped resisting the officers’ attempts to handcuff him; however, Goff continued striking Mr. Weasenforth in the head. The on-duty deputy intervened and protected Mr. Weasenforth from further assault.  

          During the incident, off-duty sheriff’s lieutenant Rick Burris arrived on the scene. After observing Goff acting inappropriately, Lt. Burris immediately initiated a preliminary investigation and directed Goff be removed to a nearby location where he was administered a Preliminary Breath Test. Probable cause was developed to suggest Goff had operated a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.  Goff was transported to the Sheriff’s Office for further investigation by the Bureau of Professional Responsibilities (Internal Affairs).  The incident was reviewed with the State’s Attorney’s Office and the following charges were agreed upon:

1)     Assault 2^nd Degree

2)     Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol

3)     Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol – Per Se

4)     Driving While Impaired

Intoxicated Deputy Assaulted Man –
he was arrested, not the deputy

By Kenneth C. Rossignol ST. MARY’S TODAY  ST. JAMES (May 14, 2008) — St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Deputy David Adam Goff, while off duty, stopped a man who was traveling on the side of Rt. 235 near St. James on Tuesday evening, left his truck running with the driver’s door open and his wife, child and dog in the truck in the middle of the highway, and after an exchange of words, began beating the man, even when another deputy showed up at the scene. ST. MARY’S TODAY has learned that Deputy Goff (DOB 11/08/1974) was drunk…very drunk, he was reportedly a .18, which is about twice the legal limit. Shane Weasenforth, a typical “Ridge Runner”, a segment of the down-county population who pay little attention to hunting seasons, spend vast amounts of time on their all-terrain vehicles riding through swamps, fields and forests and sometimes pour nitro in their fuel and leave local cops in their dust, much like the ‘Dukes of Hazard’ is the first to admit that he is not an angel but is a fellow who’s scrapes with the law have always been fairly minor. Weasenforth says that as he was riding his ATV on the shoulder of the road, where he had gone out on the edge of the highway, a traffic violation that he readily admits to, that as he was in the area of Mattaponi Road, he was suddenly approached by the man in civilian clothes who began cursing him and claiming he was a deputy. “I was going to the next trail and this guy stopped right in the lane of 235, he had his wife and child with him, he ran over to me and shoved me, was cursing and said that he going to lock me up, I told him I didn’t do anything wrong to arrest me and if he was going to give me a ticket to go ahead, I am on probation and wasn’t going to give him a hard time,” said Weasenforth. “I drove the ATV off the roadway into my cousin’s driveway and I looked around and Deputy (Dale) Reppel drove up, I know him, he was in his police car but in plain clothes,” said Weasenforth. “This deputy (Goff) was reeking of alcohol and I told Deputy Reppel that the man was stone drunk, he was just screaming at me to get on the ground.  I have been arrested before and I know the drill, I am not about to resist arrest, I just want to go through the process and see the commissioner.” “He said that he was going to impound my ATV, I told him, go ahead, I would just go get another one and he went off, I couldn’t understand it, he screamed at me to get on the ground, when he started beating me over the head, Deputy Reppel was just stunned, I asked Reppel why he was letting this drunk cop beat me, he didn’t answer, I just told myself I would be still and take the ass-whipping like a man.  Reppel was trying to figure out what to do, and other cops then showed up and Reppel was then on my back and the drunk cop kept on hitting me in the head and bashing my head into the ground,” said Weasenforth. According to police, Deputy Reppel acted properly in stopping the drunken deputy from further attacking Weasenforth and acting upon the probable cause as told to him by the drunk deputy, arrested Weasenforth for assault and resisting arrest, claiming that Weasenforth had spit on the drunk deputy. Deputy John J. Kirkner wrote in a statement of charges, “According to Reppel, while on the ground, despite repeated commands by Reppel to place his hands behind his back, the defendant resisted those commands.” Dfc. Kirkner admitted in the charging documents, that the sober Weasenforth, denied he had spit or attempted to assault the intoxicated deputy and that Deputy Goff had shown his badge and identified himself as “sheriff”. Weasenforth, in an interview with ST. MARY’S TODAY, accompanied by his fiancé who witnessed the attack and by his attorney, David Weiskopf, said that about five other deputies arrived at the scene and he asked them to give the drunken deputy a breathalyzer test, which they refused.  A test given to him later showed him to be at .18, about an hour or so after the incident, which indicates that he had an even higher level at the time of the incident. It is standard police procedure to administer a preliminary breath test to suspected drunk drivers on the side of the road to get a first indication of the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream of the motorist.  Witnesses at the scene asked the officers to give the drunken deputy a PBT, but they declined. Deputy Goff was scheduled to work the midnight shift on Tuesday, just a few hours after the incident, meaning he would have reported for duty intoxicated. Alcoholism affects police officers as much as the rest of society, and generally, those who work the most with an alcoholic are aware that they have a drinking problem. Police experts say that there is no room for an officer to be drinking, driving and assaulting a citizen and still remain a police officer. Goff has established a reputation as a professional and low-key officer in a couple of years he has been a deputy. He has earned praise from the public and respect from other officers. Prior to becoming a deputy, he was employed at Brinsfield Funeral Home in Leonardtown. ST. MARY’S TODAY has learned that Goff is a daily customer at liquor stores in the area. Sheriff Tim Cameron said that an active investigation into the conduct of the deputy was underway, and a decision on what charges to bring would be made at the conclusion of the investigation. St. Mary’s State’s Attorney Richard Fritz was at the Sheriff’s headquarters on Tuesday evening and reviewed the chump charges placed against Weasenforth.  Weasenforth should have been charged with operating an unlicensed vehicle on the shoulder of the road but the assault and resisting arrest charges clearly appear to be contrived and Sheriff Cameron admits that they could be dismissed. “We do not condone any misconduct on the part of our deputies and we have a zero tolerance towards anyone, with a badge or not, operating a vehicle while intoxicated,” said Cameron. Sheriff Cameron, while he said on Wednesday that he could not yet discuss the investigation, said it was real simple, “We don’t train these people to do things like this and we are very embarrassed and we will prove to the public that they can have confidence in the Sheriff’s Department.” Cameron was asked if he had requested another police agency to handle the investigation. “No, and we are not going to,” said Cameron.  “I have confidence in our internal affairs investigators Mike Gardiner and David Yingling and they are straight shooters and are going to uncover the facts.” Deputy Kirkner allowed Weasenforth to call his lawyer from the back seat of the police car, an action will shows that the other officers who arrived at the scene weren’t too happy with what they saw. Based on the statements made by a highly intoxicated law enforcement officer, resulted in Weasenforth being charged with “…assault on David Goff in the second degree in violation of CR 3-203, contrary to the form of the act of assembly in such case made and provided and against the peace, government and dignity of the state.” Weasenforth was also charged with resisting arrest. The probability of criminal assault charges being placed against Deputy Goff is high, and the circumstances kick in the provisions of the Police Officers Bill of Rights, which will extend the procedures against him but actions against other police officers who have committed crimes in other parts of the state have usually resulted in them being fired. But not always. When Deputy Lyle Long assaulted a 15-year-old boy whose parents had requested him to give their pot-smoking kid a good talking to, knocked the boy unconscious, and was later charged, he was represented by Fritz, prior to being elected States Attorney in 1998, who got him off the charges by entering Long into an anger management class.  Long was then promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and retired from the Sheriff’s Department two years ago and has been hired by Fritz as his investigator in the States Attorneys Office, and making an appearance before the St. Mary’s Commissioners this week managed to keep his anger under control while he made a pitch for more money for the State’s Attorney to buy equipment. Captain Steven Doolan of the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Department was found to have released seized building supplies, held in the property held lock up of the police after it was seized in a court-ordered raid of a local drug dealer, as revealed in news stories in ST. MARY’S TODAY in June of 2002.  Doolan, in what amounted to grand theft, illegally gave an entire tractor-trailer load, to his best friend and to his stepson and other supplies were taken by other deputies.  Long learned of the stolen loot and failed to notify then-Sheriff Richard Voorhaar, who then decided to not run for reelection. A State Prosecutor’s investigation revealed much of the loot stolen by the deputies and some of the material was recovered.  Deputy Cara Grumbles lied on official reports about the incident as part of her investigation and nonetheless was later promoted in rank instead of being fired. Sheriff David Zylak failed to fire Doolan and after a trial board was finally convened in 2005 and recommended that Doolan be dropped in rank to sergeant, Doolan was allowed to retire.  He never was charged by Fritz, but Doolan’s wife, the head of security at Eagan McAlister Associates, where much of the loot was believed stolen, was also Fritz’s campaign treasurer. Sheriff Cameron defeated Zylak in the 2006 election, in no small part due to the Loot Affair, and Zylak’s failure to either charge any crooked cops or to fire them. But Cameron said he cannot at this time make any statements about the facts but promised that the public will be provided an honest investigation of the incident. In personnel actions since taking office, Cameron has terminated two deputies.