Austin, Texas
One Austin police officer is now off the job and six others temporarily suspended due to their involvement in a party that resulted in an unmarked police cruiser being wrecked.
Officer Michael Hamilton was fired following an accident that happened in the early morning hours of December 3, 2010. Six other officers received temporary suspensions ranging from five to 15 days.
The news came after an Austin police disciplinary panel heard serious allegations Thursday about an Austin SWAT team officer who is charged with DWI, and six fellow officers who were accused of violating department policy by drinking while on-call.
It was Hamilton's mangled police car that sparked the investigation into seven members of the Austin police SWAT team. On the night of Dec. 3, Hamilton was on call and allegedly drinking at a party before he left in an unmarked police car. Minutes later, Hamilton hit a curb, flipping the car and sending it into a ditch off Old Convict Road in South Austin.
Officer Michael Hamilton was fired following an accident that happened in the early morning hours of December 3, 2010. Six other officers received temporary suspensions ranging from five to 15 days.
The news came after an Austin police disciplinary panel heard serious allegations Thursday about an Austin SWAT team officer who is charged with DWI, and six fellow officers who were accused of violating department policy by drinking while on-call.
It was Hamilton's mangled police car that sparked the investigation into seven members of the Austin police SWAT team. On the night of Dec. 3, Hamilton was on call and allegedly drinking at a party before he left in an unmarked police car. Minutes later, Hamilton hit a curb, flipping the car and sending it into a ditch off Old Convict Road in South Austin.
Less than a week after Hamilton's wreck, news broke he may not have been the only one drinking. An internal investigation began to look at what at least six other members of Austin's SWAT team were doing when Hamilton left the party.
Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo used Hamilton's wrecked car to send a message. He parked it in front of SWAT headquarters for officers to see.
Four of the officers involved have been reassigned outside of SWAT.
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