An off-duty Memphis Police officer has found himself on the wrong side of the law after a DUI incident in a Downtown Memphis parking garage this past weekend. According to FOX13, Joshua Bowles, 31, was arrested early yesterday and faces multiple charges including driving under the influence, failure to exercise due care and public intoxication. Records show Bowles crashed his black Dodge Charger into a vehicle operated by a security guard in the Premium Parking lot on Second Street.
The Memphis Police Department confirmed that Officer Bowles has been relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation. Bowles, who found asleep behind the wheel of his running vehicle by responding officers at around 4:40 a.m., appeared "confused" and mistakenly proffered a credit card instead of a driver's license when asked for identification, as court documents obtained by Local Memphis allege.
Further accounts detail that Bowles exhibited signs of intoxication, including "glazed eyes" and "unsteady feet," leading to his failure in a field sobriety test due to "involuntary jerking" of the eyes. Despite these charges, Bowles was released on his own recognizance, as noted in court documents highlighted by Action News 5.
Bowles is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow to answer for the charges. The Memphis community awaits the results of an investigation that has placed one of its own law enforcement officers in a harsh glare of scrutiny. As of now, the Memphis Police have not confirmed whether Bowles had ended a shift with the department at time of his arrest, leaving the public to ponder the circumstances leading up to the ill-fated incident.
