26-year-old Anna Gallagher had fallen asleep behind the steering wheel inside her GMC pickup truck. Police received notice of this incident after a Lyft driver called them and complained that the truck had backed into his parked car, even after he’d been “blowing his horn” to avoid the accident.
North Las Vegas police officers arrived on the scene and found Anna sleeping, after having crashed her truck into the Lyft driver’s car. It turns out, Anna Gallagher was actually a new police recruit, off duty at the time — and she was wearing a gun holstered to her hip at the time of the crash. When the on-duty North Las Vegas police officer woke up Anna, Anna began to reach for a gun at her hip, according to the arrest report. Las Vegas criminal defense lawyers note that this is not the first time an officer has been arrested for DUI charges.
What Did The Police Report Say?
The report goes on to say that “Gallagher was assisted out of the GMC and the firearm was safely removed from her person.” Police also reported smelling a very strong odor of alcohol on Gallagher’s breath when she spoke in a “slurred” voice. Anna Gallagher failed three separately administered field sobriety tests that day. She told police she had only had two beers that night. Gallagher also told police she had been leaving her apartment complex to go to the store when the accident had taken place.
The chief of staff for North Las Vegas Metro Police, Delen Goldberg, confirmed that Anna Gallagher had, indeed, been arrested for DUI. She had been tested and arrested by members of the multiagency DUI Strike Team, which is from the Department of Public Safety.
Police Recruit Resigns After DUI
Goldberg reported that no one was injured in the crash and that the accident was “more of a fender bender” than anything else. Gallagher has since resigned from the department and faces misdemeanor charges of DUI and possessing a gun under the influence of alcohol or drugs. She was released from police custody the day she was arrested and is due to appear in court at the end of September.
More Officers Arrested for DUI
Sadly, Anna Gallagher’s arrest was not the only DUI arrest that week in North Las Vegas. Nor was it the only arrest of a police officer. Clinton Ryan was the department’s assistant chief, and he was arrested for DUI the same week after a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper witnessed him swerving in traffic while driving a truck which was pulling a horse trailer.
When he was arrested, Ryan allegedly attempted bribing the cops by asking troopers “multiple times if there was anything that we could do to help him out.” After Ryan was arrested, he was released from custody to await his court date. He faces charges of DUI and failure to maintain travel lanes. Records show that he is due to appear in court mid-September.