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At a Wednesday court appearance, the Powell Police Department’s former community service officer admitted she drank alcohol while off-duty last month, violating the probation she’s been …
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At a Wednesday court appearance, the Powell Police Department’s former community service officer admitted she drank alcohol while off-duty last month, violating the probation she’s been serving for an earlier DUI.
Under questioning from her defense attorney, Anna Paris, 54, acknowledged consuming “a couple beers” at her home on Nov. 19. The Park County Sheriff’s Office had been called to Paris’ residence by her husband, who reported she was intoxicated and “taking swings at him.” Drinking alcohol violated the conditions of Paris’ unsupervised probation, which had been imposed in October.
Both last month’s incident and the July 4 DUI that led to Paris being put on probation occurred while she was off-duty from her job as the Powell Police Department’s community service officer. However, the department and the city have policies that can apply to misconduct off the job.
Following the DUI arrest, Paris was placed on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation was conducted. City payroll records indicate she later went without pay for two weeks before returning to regular duty.
After the Park County Attorney’s Office sought to revoke her probation last month, Paris was again placed on paid leave pending an investigation. Ultimately, her employment with the city ended on Nov. 30, said Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt. He declined to comment further, citing state laws that require certain information about government personnel to remain confidential.
Paris worked for the department for more than 30 years as an unarmed, civilian employee. She handled animal-related calls, parking and planning and zoning violations and assisted with various community services, such as educating children on bike safety.
In an April Facebook post celebrating Paris’ 30-year anniversary with the department, Chief Eckerdt said she was “often deemed one of the hardest working members of our department.”
Sentencing for the probation violation has been set for Jan. 8 in Park County Circuit Court; defense attorney Tim Blatt said he hopes to work out an agreement with prosecutors ahead of time. Paris served three days in jail for the DUI after her July arrest and, as part of plea deal, had another 27 days of jail time suspended in favor of the probation.
