On probation for DUI, community service officer faces allegations of off-duty drinking

Posted 11/24/20

A Powell Police Department employee is facing the possibility of additional jail time in connection with allegations that she drank alcohol while on probation for a July DUI. The allegations all …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

On probation for DUI, community service officer faces allegations of off-duty drinking

Posted

A Powell Police Department employee is facing the possibility of additional jail time in connection with allegations that she drank alcohol while on probation for a July DUI. The allegations all relate to off-duty activity.

Charging documents say a breath sample that Anna Paris provided to the Park County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday night indicated that she was intoxicated, and she allegedly admitted to drinking a beer.

At a Monday afternoon appearance in Park County Circuit Court, Paris formally denied violating the terms of her probation. The 54-year-old posted a $2,500 bond and was released from jail Monday afternoon, hours after checking herself in on a warrant.

The City of Powell’s longtime community service officer, Paris will not be returning to her job for the time being: Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt said Monday that, pending an internal investigation, Paris has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Paris is currently serving unsupervised probation in connection with a July 4 incident in Cody. Cody police — summoned by a passerby who reported that Paris and her husband were hitting each other in their parked car — determined Paris was intoxicated and arrested her for driving while under the influence. Law enforcement officials also charged her with unlawful contact and interference with an emergency call, citing allegations that she had hit her husband amid an altercation and prevented him from calling 911. Prosecutors later dropped those counts, after Paris’ husband said he didn’t want to press charges, while Paris pleaded guilty to DUI.

At an Oct. 21 hearing, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters imposed a standard sentence for a first offense, crediting her for the three days she served in jail after her initial arrest and suspending another 27 days of jail time in favor of six months of probation. The conditions included not drinking any alcohol.

But shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, Paris’s husband called the Park County Sheriff’s Office and reported that Paris was “intoxicated and taking swings at him” at their Road 6 residence, charging documents show.

When two deputies from the Park County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene, Paris allegedly admitted to having a beer, but was initially reluctant to provide a breath sample, the documents say. Eventually, the sheriff’s department’s portable breath unit estimated her blood alcohol level to be at 0.17%; a person is considered to be too intoxicated to drive at 0.08%.

Her husband, Greg, who is currently on probation for severely beating Paris in 2015, agreed to provide a statement to law enforcement about Thursday’s incident, but reportedly was OK with her remaining at their residence that evening. A warrant was issued for Paris’ arrest the following day.

In arguing for the $2,500 cash bond on Monday, Deputy Park County Attorney Jack Hatfield said Paris had shown a “general lack of cooperation with law enforcement” and expressed concern that “she’s only been on probation for a month.”

Hatfield also said prosecutors are “concerned with public safety.”

Paris’s defense attorney, Tim Blatt, didn’t object to the bond recommendation, saying his client would be able to post that amount. A formal probation revocation hearing is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 9.

Although city officials have not commented on what, if any, internal discipline Paris received in connection with the July DUI, city payroll records indicate she went two weeks without pay in August.

Comments