A Florida sheriff's deputy has been fired after he was found passed out in his cruiser, which contained nine bottles of whiskey.
Christopher Greene, who'd been a deputy with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office since June 2019, was found in December "slumped over" the steering wheel of his agency-issued cruiser, according to documents obtained by WFLA.
Apparently, the 32-year-old had passed out while waiting for a red light to change at an intersection in Brandon, just east of Tampa. A full light cycle passed before confused motorists began driving around his vehicle, sheriff's officials said.
When authorities arrived, Greene, who was off-duty, was "reluctant to step out" of his vehicle, telling them, "I'm fine," according to the report.
At first, authorities didn't consider alcohol to be a factor and thought Greene may have suffered a medical condition because he was recently diagnosed as diabetic, WFLA reported. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Meantime, deputies were preparing to drive Greene's cruiser back to his home when they discovered several alcoholic beverages inside the vehicle. There was an open beer can, three-quarters of the way empty, in the cup holder, an empty "shooter" bottle of Jim Beam on the passenger floorboard, and a paper bag with eight more bottles, which a deputy described as being "so full he couldn't fold it closed," per WFLA.
Greene managed to leave the hospital before he could be questioned by law enforcement. According to WFLA, he later told deputies he got a ride to his parent's house where he continued to drink. A blood alcohol test returned results of 0.234 and 0.233 — nearly three times the legal limit, per the report.
Although sheriff's officials decided against filing criminal charges, Greene won't be fighting crime in Pinellas County anymore; he's been fired from his job, a rep for the sheriff's office confirmed.
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