Leader of anti-DUI squad is arrested on DUI

DRAPER — The head of the Utah Highway Patrol's anti-DUI squad has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after crashing his patrol car.

Lt. Fred Swain was arrested June 23 after Draper police responded to a crash about 2:30 a.m. on Bangerter Highway near 400 West. Swain was found sitting in his wrecked, unmarked patrol car and talking on his phone, according to a Draper police report obtained by the Deseret Morning News Thursday.

The UHP said Swain had veered off to the right side of the road, overcorrected and then crashed into the concrete barrier separating the lanes of travel. The impact of the collision was so forceful, it pushed the barrier several feet.

"He hit with some velocity," Draper police Sgt. Scott Peck said. "It was a pretty good impact."

No one was injured in the crash. But the front end of the patrol car suffered significant damage.

"Fred said he was traveling westbound on Bangerter Highway and fell asleep at the wheel," the Draper Police Department said in a statement. Officers on the scene suspected he was driving under the influence of alcohol.

Swain was given a series of field sobriety tests, in which officers asked him to walk a straight line and stand on one leg. The police report does not say if Swain passed those tests.

When officers asked him to submit to a Breathalyzer test to measure his blood alcohol content, the police report said that Swain replied, "I'll take it."

The police report said Swain's blood alcohol level was 0.116, more than the 0.08 legal limit in Utah. Draper police said the breath test was given nearly two hours after officers were called to the accident, and Swain still measured 0.036 over the legal limit. Two captains and a sergeant from the UHP also responded to the accident.

Swain's car was impounded, and he was ticketed and driven home by his supervisor.

The Department of Public Safety and Utah Highway Patrol reacted with disappointment.

"The administration is extremely disappointed and extremely embarrassed by his actions," Lt. Doug McCleve said Thursday. "This is an individual choice, for whatever reason Fred made."

A woman who answered the phone at Swain's home on Thursday said he declined to comment.

"He said it wasn't in his best interest right now to speak," she said. "Maybe later."