A Portsmouth deputy was arrested early this morning for drunk driving after he allegedly crashed his car into a utility pole, according to Portsmouth law enforcement officials.
On November 2, 2012 at approximately 2:17 a.m., Portsmouth Police Communications received 911 calls related to a vehicle hitting a utility pole. Several additional calls from citizens indicated a BMW was dragging a utility pole in the 5600 block of High Street.
As police officers were responding to the area of High Street, additional 911 calls reported the BMW was in the area of Reese Drive and Castle Way. Officers responded and found a gray BMW with damage. They say the man driving the car was not injured.
Officers say the driver was traveling east on High Street, when the BMW went off the road and hit a utility pole and a tree. A second utility pole was damaged from the first pole falling on it. The male driver continued driving the vehicle to the area of Reese Drive.
Officers arrested the driver, 31-year-old Stephen M. Fredericks, of the 3000 block of Reese Drive, and charged him with driving under the influence and hit and run.
Police tell NewsChannel 3 that while Fredericks was being processed by the officers, he assaulted one of them. An additional charge of assault on a law enforcement officer was issued. The officer did not require medical treatment, officials say.
The driver, Stephen Fredericks, is employed as a Portsmouth Sheriff’s Deputy.
Watch NewsChannel 3 starting First at Four for more details on this story.
