School resource officer gets DWI
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on March 23, 2010 1:46 PM
A school resource officer for Charles B. Aycock High School resigned his job after being charged with a driving while impaired offense, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputy Alejandro Jones was arrested Saturday night by the state Highway Patrol for driving while impaired. He was off duty and driving his own car.
Sheriff Carey Winders said that driving while impaired is never permissible within the department, and that Jones would have been terminated if he had not tendered his resignation.
The sheriff said he had since been able to speak with Jones.
"Yeah, I've talked to him, that's as far as I've got on that," the sheriff said, adding that he could not comment further because the matter was a personnel issue.
Jones started with the Sheriff's Office as a detention officer in 2007, then became the school resource officer at Charles B. Aycock in 2008, authorities said.
Capt. Daryll Overton and Sgt. Brandy Jones, who oversee the school resource officer program, said that Jones was a good employee, and they regretted that he had to resign.
"Both stated that they along with (Winders) ... are saddened about these circumstances," said a press release issued by Capt. Tom Effler.
"Capt. Overton and Maj. Winstead said that even though he was a good officer, every deputy understands the violation of this policy and what the repercussions are," the release said.
The last time a member of the Sheriff's Office ran afoul of the law was last year, when a part-time deputy resigned after being charged with driving while impaired.