Deputy DA suspended after arrest for DUI
A deputy 4th Judicial District attorney has been suspended with pay after being arrested Saturday on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and careless driving.
Colorado Springs police arrested Sebasti Emma Adams, 30, after the car she was driving hit a curb hard enough to disable the vehicle, said police spokesman Lt. David Whitlock.
Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May said Adams reported the incident to him within a few hours. May said he has requested a special prosecutor to handle the case.
Whitlock said police were first called by a witness who reported seeing a car run a red light and hit a curb near the onramp to southbound Interstate 25 at Rockrimmon Boulevard.
No one was injured in the accident and no other vehicles were involved, he said.
Officers administered a field sobriety test, which Adams failed, Whitlock said. She later underwent a blood test, the results of which have yet to be processed, he said.
She was taken into custody on suspicion of driving under the influence, careless driving and failure to provide proof of insurance. She was issued a ticket and released.
During the course of the arrest, she identified herself as a deputy district attorney, but not in an attempt to get special treatment, Whitlock said.
"It was handled just as any other DUI that night," he said.
Adams could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
May declined to identify the deputy involved, citing personnel rules. However, he also said the case will be handled just like any other DUI prosecution.
He said Adams remains suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
As of February 2009, Adams had been assigned to prosecuting felony cases in Division 15 in District Court. She has been a prosecutor with the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office since November 2006.
Among the cases she has handled was the prosecution of Barbara Thomas, a woman accused of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of drugs in an August 2008 crash in which two bicyclists were killed.
Drinking and driving became an issue in the District Attorney's Office after former 4th District Attorney John Newsome was filmed drinking at two bars and driving a county vehicle by television station KOAA.
Newsome apologized for the incident in May 2008 ahead of running for re-election. He lost to May in the August Republican primary.
____
For more court coverage, go to the Sidebar blog.
