The Grand Junction Fire Chief was taken into custody on Friday, charged with driving a rescue vehicle while impaired. The Jefferson Police Department reports the incident began at approximately 11:31 p.m. on Friday night when the department was dispatched to a Grand Junction residence on a medical call. An officer overheard radio communications between the ambulance driver and the dispatcher as they traveled to the Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson with the patient. What caught the officer’s attention was that the ambulance driver’s speech was slurred. The male was later identified as 39-year-old Thomas Launderville. The officer met the ambulance at the hospital and spoke with Launderville, again noting signs of intoxication. He asked him to complete a field sobriety test, which he refused at that time. He was arrested and charged with second-offense operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, an aggravated misdemeanor. After being transported to the Greene County Law Enforcement Center, he consented to a breath test, which recorded a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of .210. Launderville had previously been convicted of first-offense operating while intoxicated in October of 2014.
