Ex-Cop Charged With Two DUIs After Leaving DUI Court Hearing

A former Bridgeport, Conn., police officer already facing a drunken driving charge was arrested three times in the state in about 11 hours, twice for DUI.

The ex-cop appeared in Rockville, Conn., Superior Court on Monday as a result of a July drunken driving arrest in the area. Sometime after he left the courthouse that day, an off-duty officer spotted the man, identified in multiple media accounts as John Biehn, allegedly driving in the wrong lane.

Vernon police located the motorist and vehicle in question at a nearby McDonald’s parking lot at about 1:30 in the afternoon. There, Biehn reportedly failed field sobriety testing and was charged with drunken driving as well as failing to drive in the proper lane. He posted $2,500 bail and was released. That evening, Wallingford police detained him in another traffic stop, as a result of which he was charged with a second DUI. He was again released after a posting a $2,500 bond.

As they say on the TV infomercials, but wait — there’s more. As the Hartford Courant detailed, “At 1:51 a.m. Tuesday, Wallingford police were called to the Wal-Mart store on Colony Road for a report of a shoplifter in custody. There they found Biehn in the custody of store security staff and accused of stealing a pair of headphones and food valued at $73. He was charged with sixth-degree larceny and released after posting $5,000 bail.”

Biehn, 39, left the Bridgeport Police Department about 10 years ago after a bizarre shooting incident in the city. “Prosecutors said Biehn went on a drunken rampage at a housing complex in 2004, firing his gun at random and shooting out several windows. Three residents testified that Biehn pointed the gun at their heads and tried to shoot them. Others said Biehn fired at them but missed,” the AP reported.

In 2006, a jury convicted the officer of one misdemeanor count of first degree reckless endangerment and cleared him of the other more serious charges in connecting with that incident. Citing his military service, the trial judge sentenced Biehn to a one-year suspended prison sentence along with community service and counseling. He could have been jailed for up to one year in the 2004 incident.

The city of Bridgeport paid $48,000 to several residents of that housing complex to settle a civil rights lawsuit.

Biehn is due back in Rockville court on December 22 for Monday’s initial DUI stop. He reportedly has pled not guilty in the July incident and is scheduled to return to court in January on that infraction.

[image via Shutterstock]