Sheriff’s deputy in Elko won’t be prosecuted in DUI

ELKO -- Charges have been dropped against an off-duty Elko County sheriff's deputy who was arrested for suspicion of drunken driving after she was stopped by her husband, a fellow deputy.

Assistant City Attorney Thomas Coyle Jr. said Tuesday that he decided against proceeding with the charges against Charlotte Moore because he couldn't determine whether her husband, Mike Moore, had probable cause to stop her vehicle on Aug. 11.

Without probable cause to make the stop, all other evidence in the case would be suppressed, Coyle said.

"There were three or four different versions of the grounds for those stops," Coyle told the Elko Daily Free Press. "It was not established there was reasonable suspicion of criminal activity."

City police made the arrest and filed the charge of driving under the influence against Charlotte Moore, 36.

Elko County Sheriff Mike Dale Lotspeich said Tuesday his department would review the matter to confirm his deputies followed proper procedures and make sure there was no impression his officers "are above the law."

In a witness statement in the city police report, Mike Moore said he stopped his wife's Pontiac Grand Am and warned her not to drive around if she had been drinking.

He said she told him she "had not been drinking for some time," so he let her leave, thinking she would go home, he said in the report.

Mike Moore said he followed her to see where she was going. He said in his statement she went to a bar and "let a male person out of the back seat."

Moore said he tried to stop her vehicle at an intersection, but she drove off. He said he then contacted dispatch and told them a vehicle was failing to stop before making a third traffic stop, at which time city police responded.

Police Chief Mike Smith said Elko police proceeded with the arrest based on the probable cause provided by Mike Moore.

Mike Moore made statements to police that he stopped his wife and she was drunk. In a report, officer Larry Kidd said after his arrival he saw the Moores arguing and asked Mike Moore to leave.

Mike Moore later returned to the scene and spoke with Kidd. He told Kidd that when he originally saw the vehicle, he did not know who was driving and thought it might have been stolen. Kidd said Moore told him, "he gave chase and the vehicle sped away."

Charlotte Moore told police she had been drinking, according to police reports. She also smelled of alcohol and failed a field sobriety test, according to reports. She registered 0.114 percent blood-alcohol content in a portable breath test.

The state's legal blood-alcohol limit is 0.08 percent.