ATLANTA — An off-duty Atlanta Police Department officer is accused of driving under the influence after a Georgia State Patrol trooper was called to a single-vehicle crash, records show.
GSP said the officer was stopped on Aug. 26 at 4:14 a.m. after a vehicle went off the road along State Road 166 in Fulton County. An incident report details the trooper's interaction with the driver, noting that it was raining.
The trooper walked up to the ambulance where the driver, later identified as APD Officer Carlos Thomas, asked the trooper to keep his distance. Thomas, 35, would continually back away from the trooper and not face him as he spoke, according to a GSP crash report.
Throughout their initial interview, Thomas seemed confused and couldn't answer where he was coming from, adding that he thought he was on his way to pick up his child. He also told the trooper he was not on duty during the time of the crash, the incident report reads.
When asked if he had been drinking alcohol, he told the officer he was "going through some stuff," the report reads, not answering the question. It is unclear if he had taken any prescription medications.
"Throughout our contact in the back of the ambulance, Mr. Thomas was moving his head away from me anytime he spoke and would get very agitated if I got closer to him than what he wanted," the investigating trooper wrote in his recorded account.
During the trooper's interaction, he noted the officer had bloodshot watery eyes, that his breath smelled like alcohol, and detailed that his clothing appeared slept in and disheveled. Records show that Thomas refused any tests relating to impairment.
Thomas was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was taken to Grady Medical Center and later taken to APD to be booked into jail. Thomas has been relieved of duty pending an emergency hearing with APD's chief, according to a spokesperson with the department.
Thomas was hired onto the force in 2015 and was previously assigned to the violent crime interdiction unit, APD said.
