Peachtree City firefighter/EMT Kevin Bernard McMullen was charged with DUI alcohol on the morning of Jan. 11. Fire department supervisors at McMullen’s place of work at Fire Station #81 at Paschall Road and Ga. Highway 74 initiated the process that led to the administration of sobriety tests by Peachtree City Police officers after performing a “mouth swab” at the fire station where McMullen had reported for duty. Subsequent testing showed the 32 year-old Fayetteville resident with a blood alcohol level of .135.
According to a supplemental incident report, Peachtree City Police received a 911 dispatch call on Jan. 11 at 9:05 a.m. The officer contacted Assistant Fire Chief Joseph O’Conor and was told that one of his employees came to work with alcohol on his breath and he wanted to have a definitive test administered.
A supplemental incident report noted that officers spoke with fire department supervisors and determined that, while at the Paschall Road fire station a supervisor had administered a “mouth swab” on McMullen and found it to test positive for alcohol. The supervisor then drove McMullen to Piedmont Fayette Hospital to have blood drawn but, once there, learned that “the hospital could not draw the blood due to not having a form.”
McMullen was then driven to the police department by a supervisor, the report said.
Once at the police station an officer noted in the report that he could smell a “very strong odor consistent of an alcoholic beverage coming from Mr. McMullen.”
When asked if he had driven to work that morning, McMullen said that he had, adding that he had started his shift at 8 a.m. and that he had not had any alcoholic beverage since the prior night while watching a football game.
Officers administered several sobriety tests, with the results showing a blood alcohol level .135 and .136. The legal limit in Georgia is .08.
Just prior to the administration of an additional sobriety test, one that is voluntary, McMullen said he would agree to the test and that he “wanted to prove he was innocent,” the report said.
With the results of that test coming in at .136, the officer asked McMullen about the alcohol he had consumed. McMullen said he had consumed 10 glasses of wine at around 8 p.m., adding the he had consumed no alcohol that morning or since reporting to work, the report said. McMullen also told officers he drove his vehicle from his home in Fayetteville to work at the Paschall Road fire station earlier that morning, reports said.
McMullen was subsequently charged with DUI and transported to the Fayette County Jail.
City attorney Ted Meeker on Wedneday said any action taken or to be taken regarding the incident will be available 10 days after the action.
McMullen was one of the Recruit Class graduates in 2007 and, in January 2008, was named Peachtree City Fire Department’s Rookie of the Year.
