A Carroll man was stopped three times in one night and charged twice with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Questions have been raised about how this could happen. The first traffic stop for 40-year-old Kenneth Kayce Harris took place at approximately 8:54 p.m. Tuesday, June 22 and he was cited for driving on a revoked license and no proof of financial liability. Then about two hours later, Harris was stopped a second time and cited again for the previous two offenses and then arrested on a first-offense OWI. He was cited and released. Harris was spotted by the same officer driving into an apartment complex and getting out of the driver’s side of the vehicle at approximately 1:59 a.m. on June 23 and was again arrested on all three of the previous charges as well as open container and trespassing. Previous reports on this incident quote the arresting officer as saying Harris was cited and released because of the “full capacity” at the Carroll County jail. Carroll Broadcasting reached out to both the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, who oversees jail operations, and the Carroll Police Department for comment. Sheriff, Ken Pingrey, says the previously reported statement about jail capacity is incorrect. The jailer notified the officer the holding cell was unoccupied. He also said it is a sheriff’s office procedure to hold any individual stopped and charged with an OWI until they have recorded a blood alcohol content (BAC) below the legal limit of 0.08, bonded out or have been before the judge. The police department may have different procedures. When bonding out, the accused must complete a form and identify an individual who will take responsibility for them and pick them up. Pingrey adds his office did send out a memo about a week or two ago that asked officers to use discretion as the jail was at full capacity at that time. They were asked to use their judgment on arrests regarding misdemeanor issues such as shoplifting or minor traffic offenses and to consider citing and releasing for those. However, he adds, they are in the business of public safety, and even if that holding cell had not been available, they would have made room for Harris so as not to put the public at risk. Carroll Chief of Police, Brad Burke, says the officer should not have made that statement because they were aware the holding cell was available. The officer had, however, gotten the form signed and a sober party was called in to take over the responsibility for Harris. Although Burke says there are no criminal charges for that party, if they can be tied back into knowingly letting Harris to get behind the wheel again, they could face a citation for allowing an unauthorized person to drive. If Harris had gotten into an accident, injuring or killing another, or had committed a criminal act, Burke believes the person who accepted the responsibility over Harris could be held civilly liable. Harris was released Wednesday after posting a $2,000 bond.
