Posted on Thu, Aug. 27, 2009

The CHP officer found late at night in a state car on a North County road was recently demoted from captain to lieutenant, even as the county District Attorney’s Office has yet to decide whether to charge him with driving under the influence.

CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said Thursday the CHP has completed its investigation into the incident, which started late March 12 and early the following morning. The CHP has recommended criminal charges.

San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies found then-Capt. Martin J. “Marty” Whited just before midnight in a state car by the side of the road near El Pomar Drive and Neal Springs Road in rural Templeton, a sheriff’s spokesman said at the time. Whited identified himself as a CHP captain and asked for a supervisor from his agency. Capt. Bill Vail, who leads the San Luis Obispo CHP field office, was called by sheriff’s deputies to the scene. Vail told The Tribune in March that he drove Whited away from the scene. No arrest was made.

Chief Adam Cuevas of the CHP Coastal Division said he responded to the area but not the scene of the Whited incident that night. When he was interviewed by The Tribune March 23, Cuevas said of Whited, “He did not violate the law and he was not arrested.”

Higher-ups within the CHP have since determined that Whited may have violated the law.

The CHP completed its internal investigation into the incident and has recommended to the District Attorney’s Office that Whited be charged with driving under the influence, according to Jerret Gran, chief deputy district attorney.

“Anytime a law enforcement agency submits a case to us they say they are requesting the filing of charges,” Gran said Thursday.

Driving under the influence, a violation of Vehicle Code 23152a, is a lesser charge than 23152b, which is driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher.

While Whited’s rank has been lowered since the close of the investigation in recent weeks, Clader would not confirm if his demotion was tied to the investigation.

It would be difficult to prove the stiffer charge since the CHP supervisors and the San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies who dealt with Whited that night did not perform blood or breath tests, multiple law enforcement sources have confirmed. Gran said he could not discuss details of the case. Clader said she could not give any details of the incident either because Whited is protected under the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights.

“We took it seriously,” she said. “We did send down the Office of Inspector General to provide oversight over the general investigation. The criminal investigation concerning the employee has been referred to the SLO District Attorney’s Office.”

Multiple sources who work for or are retired from the CHP have contacted The Tribune on the case to complain that Whited received preferential treatment in the incident.

Whited worked in the Coastal Divison headquarters on Broad Street in San Luis Obispo but was transferred to Modesto effective July 31.

Vail works in the San Luis Obispo field office on California Boulevard. Cuevas supervises the entire Coastal Division, which stretches from Santa Cruz to Ventura counties.

When the incident happened in March, Whited was on probation for a single misdemeanor child endangerment charge out of San Mateo County.

Whited pleaded no contest in a 2007 incident where his wife received a “significant cut” on her head during an argument in front of their children, according to Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County.