A Metro Nashville Police Department officer was arrested on DUI and firearm charges Wednesday morning after he reported for duty showing signs of intoxication, according to police. Jordan Vrbas, a 39-year-old Midtown Hills Precinct officer and 11-year department veteran, was taken into custody following a field sobriety test and a breath sample that came back well above the legal limit.
According to WSMV, Midtown Hills supervisors became suspicious of Vrbas and requested an investigation from the department's traffic division. That inquiry quickly escalated: as reported by WKRN, an investigator reported smelling alcohol coming from Vrbas and noted other indicators of impairment during a field sobriety test conducted at the precinct.
A breath sample registered .11%, which is higher than the .08% DUI threshold set under Tennessee law, per MNPD. Vrbas was arrested on charges of DUI and gun possession while under the influence, both of which are misdemeanor charges under state law, the station's report notes. Police said Vrbas was immediately decommissioned once the impairment was confirmed.
A Second, Internal Investigation Now Underway
Beyond the criminal case, Nashville's Office of Professional Accountability is conducting a separate administrative investigation of Vrbas, the same account indicates. Per Nashville.gov, that office is tasked with classifying and reviewing complaints, directing investigations, and making recommendations about case dispositions and disciplinary consistency within the department.
An Echo of a Decade-Old Tennessee Case
The combination of DUI and gun-possession-while-impaired charges has a notable precedent in Tennessee politics. In 2011, state Representative Curry Todd was stopped for speeding and weaving in traffic and was ultimately charged with DUI and possession of a handgun while under the influence, according to a report from Reuters. A police affidavit in that case said Todd had a loaded .38-caliber handgun in a holster in his car, and he subsequently resigned as chairman of a House Republican firearms task force.
That case is a limited comparison rather than a direct parallel, but it underscores how seriously Tennessee authorities have treated the pairing of alcohol impairment and firearm possession in the past. For now, MNPD has not released additional details about Vrbas's case beyond confirming his decommissioning and the two pending investigations.
