A former firefighter was charged with DUI after giving a 0.000 BAC reading during a Breathalyzer test, and is now claiming that he was the victim of unwarranted police targeting.
Jessie Thornton, 64, was pulled over by Surprise, Arizona, police around 11 p.m. and was asked to take a Breathalyzer test after the officers alleged Thornton's eyes were red.
"I said, 'I've been swimming at LA Fitness,'" Thornton said. "And he says, 'I think you're DUI... we're going to do a sobriety test. I said '[Okay], but I got bad knees and a bad hip with surgery in two days.'"
Thornton believes being pulled over was actually an incident of racial profiling and said he's been pulled over 10 times and gotten four tickets since moving to Surprise.
"I couldn't even sit on the ground like that and they knew it and I was laying on the ground, then they put me in the back of an SUV and when I asked the officer to move her seat up 'cause my hip hurt she told me to stop whining," he said.
According to police reports, officers felt Thornton did not have any problems with his knee or hip. After his BAC came back 0.000, officers still took him in to custody and performed other drug tests.
Once the tests were complete, official documents state that the drug recognition expert (DRE) saw no signs of impairment.
"I conducted an evaluation of Jessie, in my opinion Jessie was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol," read the report.
Despite the DRE's account, Thornton's car was impounded and the Motor Vehicle Department was notified, later sending Thornton a message that his license was to be suspended.
Thornton and his attorney, Marc Victor, claim the real reason the police officers pulled him over was because of the color of his skin.
"This is a case of D-W-B, driving while black," the attorney declared.
Surprise police department has not made any official statements citing pending legal action.
