A 29-year-old Esmeralda County Sheriff's Office deputy officer in training was arrested early Sunday morning in a county police vehicle and faces misdemeanor charges of DUI alcohol and failure to maintain a lane of traffic.
Jason Alan Byrum of Silver Peak was arrested by Carson City sheriff's patrol officers at 4:40 a.m. in the area of Silver Sage Drive and Vintage Circle. He is a cadet at the POST academy, confirmed Esmeralda County Sheriff Ken Elgan.
According to the arrest report, officers patrolling on Sunday, at approximately 4:03 a.m. responded to the area of Silver Sage Drive and Vintage for a report of a DUI driver. The reporting party called dispatch stating they had observed a vehicle traveling southbound on I-580 that was not maintaining a lane and was driving erratically. The vehicle reportedly hit barriers somewhere in Washoe Valley.
Officer made contact with the driver who identified himself as Byrum, with a Nevada driver's license. He had a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and had red, watery eyes, the arrest report states. He was acting unsteady on his feet and had thick slurred speech, the arrest report states.
He agreed to perform a series of standard field sobriety tests which showed him to be impaired. He provided a breath sample on a preliminary breath test which showed him to be illegal per se. Based on his performance during the standard field sobriety tests and the driving pattern seen by the reporting party and a deputy, officers determined him to be intoxicated to the extent that he could not safely operate a motor vehicle, the arrest report states.
He was arrested for DUI alcohol and failure to maintain a lane. He was taken to jail for evidentiary testing and booking. Bail. $1,219.