GILBERT – A Phoenix police officer is accused of drinking too much and threatening fellow officers who then took him down with a stun gun.
The officer in question, 26-year-old Seth Castillo, was on his way home from McDonalds allegedly drunk and fell asleep in the middle of the street. He was not happy when fellow officers tried to wake him up.
Police say the off-duty officer was driving at two times the legal alcohol limit when he went right through a stop sign and fell asleep in the middle of a Gilbert intersection.
Investigators tell 3TV Castillo was slumped over the steering wheel of a black Jeep Cherokee with the car still in drive.
The police report indicates Castillo was snoring and did not wake up until after the officer shook him several times. When Castillo did wake up, the report states his eyes were watery, his speech was slurred and he smelled like alcohol.
He was also reportedly confrontational and hostile and officers were forced to tase him. Neighbors say everything took place at about 10 a.m. One neighbor tells 3TV, “I noticed the guy sitting on the ground and when they picked him up he was handcuffed and then they put him on a stretcher and put him in the EMT and took him away."
3TV went to his house which is less than a block away from the scene but no one answered our door knocks.
Fellow police officers answered for him. One tells 3TV, “We are very disappointed as always whenever these types of allegations come about."
Castillo told police he drank two 24-ounce cans of beer. Investigators say Castillo claimed he had also taken Ritalin.
The officer is still on-duty on the street working. Phoenix police tell 3TV they are going to let Gilbert finish their investigation before they decide what they are going to do.
