Federal Prosecutor Gerald Sullivan was pulled over on Thanksgiving morning, charged with refusing a breath test that day and then charged with DUI almost a week later.

According to reports, Sullivan told officers he knew the police chief during his arrest, and his position as a federal prosecutor may have had some impact on how the arrest was handled. At this point, the U.S. Department of Justice plans to step in and handle the investigation. In the wake of what has occurred, Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney admitted his officers made a mistake.

He says there should have been a double charge immediately upon the arrest. Each of the 7 other arrests made by the department that weekend resulted in immediate DUI charges. McCartney says his department got it right in the other 7 cases. The fact Sullivan’s case was handled differently points to an inconsistently, likely related to his political position.

The department recently changed policy to enable officer to charge for DUI in the absence of a chemical test if enough other evidence is present. This eliminates the chance a visibly intoxicated person can avoid arrest just by refusing the chemical test, but it also makes prosecuting the DUI much more difficult. MADD and other activist groups were behind the change.

McCartney says his department did the right thing by charging the DUI after the fact. He says a review of the case and the facts provided significant evidence to do so. McCartney has chosen not to follow one additional protocol, however. He will turn the case directly to the Feds instead of the state police. McCartney says the state police will have a conflict of interest as Sullivan was assigned to Rhode Islands and knows many people within the department there very well.

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