BROOKINGS – An off-duty Brookings Police Department officer who was arrested for DUI last fall has pleaded guilty to the charge.
Damian Weets, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to DUI-first offense. Misdemeanor charges of open container and speeding were dismissed.
Weets was ordered to pay $737 in fines and court costs and was granted a suspended imposition of sentence.
He was arrested by a Brookings County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop initiated for speeding about 11:22 p.m. Sept. 20, near 471st Avenue and 204th Street, north of Brookings, according to a traffic ticket.
Beadle County State’s Attorney Mike Moore, who prosecuted the case as a limited deputy state’s attorney for Brookings County, said there were two deputies at the stop who observed that Weets had been drinking and that there was an open container in his vehicle. A preliminary breath test and field sobriety tests were refused, so a search warrant was obtained for a blood test, Moore said. Weets’ blood alcohol content was .141, he added.
Brookings Police Chief Dave Erickson verified that Weets is employed with the Brookings Police Department, but, in accordance with the policies of the City of Brookings, said he was unable to comment on personnel matters.
Moore said Weets’ sentence is standard for first-offense DUI cases in both Brookings and Beadle counties.
A suspended imposition of sentence can only be used once for a misdemeanor and once for a felony in a person’s lifetime, and it seals a criminal conviction to the public as long as all conditions of the sentence are met.
Contact Jill Fier at jfier@brookingsregister.com.
