Off-duty DC police officer charged with DUI, resisting arrest

WASHINGTON - D.C. police officer John Bewley was arrested for DUI after court documents alleged that he was impaired when he showed up at the scene of a traffic stop involving his girlfriend, who was also suspected of DUI, off-duty but in his marked police cruiser. 

According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Officer John Bewley with the Special Operations Division Emergency Response Team (ERT), has been charged with driving under the influence, resisting arrest and obstructing justice. 

Charging documents state that the incident began around 3:15 a.m. when an MPD officer pulled over a woman in the 1600 block of Connecticut Avenue, Northwest on suspicion of DUI. 

The woman told the officer who pulled her over that she was on the phone with her boyfriend, who is an MPD officer. Not long after, Bewley drove up in his marked take-home police cruiser with the emergency lights flashing.

According to an affidavit, Bewley ignored the commands of other officers and immediately confronted the officer conducting a field sobriety test on his girlfriend. 

The court documents say Bewley "repeatedly walked past officers and up to Ofc. Griffin and the DUI suspect after Ofc. Griffin and other officers told him to stay away from the scene," and that he was "yelling at the suspect and telling her to leave the scene with him." 

Eventually, the officers put Bewley in handcuffs and that’s when they noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from him. They asked if he would take a field sobriety test and he refused. 

Bewley was then placed under arrest and charged. He made his first court appearance Saturday afternoon where he pleaded not guilty.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 11.  

MPD says its Internal Affairs Division has revoked Bewley’s police powers and an internal investigation is underway.