Detroit PIO Officer Found Passed Out Drunk in Running Squad Truck at White Castle

A Detroit police officer who has spent much of 2026 standing in front of television cameras explaining shootings and gun safety to the public was found passed out drunk in his own department truck outside a Redford Township White Castle, according to police. Jalon Allen Nelson, a 28-year-old officer assigned to the Detroit Police Department's Public Information Office, was discovered by Redford Township police around 1 a.m. on July 31 near Schoolcraft and Telegraph roads, slumped in the back seat of a running truck with its emergency lights still activated.

The truck was parked on the grass outside the White Castle at that intersection, according to The Metro Detroit News, which first reported the incident. Officers had to open the truck door to reach Nelson, who initially refused to get out and refused to take a breathalyzer test before he was ultimately arrested. When he was tested, his breath registered blood alcohol readings of .237 and .234 — nearly triple Michigan's standard legal driving limit of .08, according to the Barone Defense Firm.

Court records show Nelson was charged with operating with a blood alcohol content of .17 or more, the outlet's report notes. Under Michigan law, a BAC reading at or above that threshold triggers so-called “Super Drunk” high-BAC misdemeanor penalties, which raise the maximum jail exposure from 93 days to 180 days and push potential fines as high as $700. A conviction also carries a mandatory 45-day hard license suspension with no driving allowed, followed by up to 320 days of restricted driving limited to vehicles fitted with an approved ignition interlock device, per the same firm's breakdown of the statute.

A Familiar Face for DPD Suddenly Facing Scrutiny

Nelson's arrest is jarring in part because of who he is inside the department. As a member of DPD's Public Information Office, he had become a visible face for Detroit police, delivering on-camera updates to reporters on developing stories, including a triple drive-by shooting in July that left three people injured, according to ClickOnDetroit. In April, Nelson also served as the department's spokesperson, confirming details after an officer accidentally shot himself in a downtown municipal building bathroom, a case Hoodline previously covered.

Just months before his arrest, Nelson appeared in a March television segment demonstrating proper gun storage locks and educating the public on firearm safety on behalf of the department, according to FOX 2 Detroit. The take-home police vehicle Nelson was found in exists precisely so officers can respond to breaking incidents while off duty — a program the department established, per WDET 101.9 FM's 2015 reporting, to increase police visibility in neighborhoods and let designated officers reach emergencies directly from home.

Department Places Officer on Leave, Cites Standards

Detroit police confirmed Nelson was off duty at the time of the incident and have placed him on administrative leave while the department reviews what happened. “We hold our officers to the highest standards—both on and off duty,” the department said in a statement reported by The Metro Detroit News. Standard DPD internal protocol calls for officers arrested on OWI charges or facing serious criminal allegations to be stripped of their service firearms and placed on administrative leave while Internal Affairs conducts its own review alongside the criminal case, according to ClickOnDetroit's earlier reporting.

Nelson's case is not an isolated one within the department this year. In April, off-duty DPD officer Yolanda Miree was arrested in Sterling Heights after allegedly driving the wrong way, causing a hit-and-run crash, and refusing sobriety testing, ClickOnDetroit reported at the time. And in September 2025, off-duty officer Liam Collier was arrested and charged with operating while intoxicated and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence following a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 75, according to CBS News Detroit.

The pattern extends further back, too — Hoodline reported in an earlier DUI case involving another off-duty DPD officer following a Clinton Township crash. Michigan's high-BAC statute has come up in other recent local cases as well, including a Troy driver whose blood-alcohol level tested nearly five times the legal limit, as Hoodline detailed in its coverage of the state's Super Drunk law. It remains to be seen how Nelson's criminal case in Redford Township court will proceed, or what Internal Affairs will ultimately conclude about his continued role within the department.