The night that off-duty Ogden police Officer Jared Tongsaeng Ingalsbe crashed into two power poles, four cars and a house in Harrisville, there was both alcohol and a prescription sleep medication in his bloodstream.
Ingalsbe was initially charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, a class B misdemeanor.
But prosecutors later allowed the officer to plead guilty to a non-alcohol-related reckless driving charge, which left him facing none of the usual drunken-driving sanctions like license suspension and substance-abuse treatment classes.
Deputy Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred explained this week that the totality of the evidence did not support, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Ingalsbe was driving while impaired.
Allred said he could extrapolate backwards from Ingalsbe's blood-alcohol results to show it exceeded -- just slightly -- the legal limit of 0.08 at the time of the June 30 crash.
But Allred said he decided that proving a DUI in court would be "very difficult."
The crash occurred at 10:40 p.m., and Ingalsbe's blood was not drawn until 1:03 a.m., according to police reports, meaning 143 minutes had elapsed.
Ingalsbe's blood-alcohol content measured 0.05 at the time it was drawn. Using a standard burn-off rate of 0.015 per hour, police and prosecutors calculated Ingalsbe's blood-alcohol content was 0.0857 at the time of the crash.
Allred also said while there was the presence of the prescription sleep medication Zolpidem in the officer's system, the toxicology test did not quantify the amount.
"You or I can drive with prescription drugs in our system unless they render you unsafe to drive a vehicle," Allred said.
Furthermore, there were no witnesses to establish that Ingalsbe -- who claims he simply fell asleep at the wheel -- was driving erratically prior to the crash, Allred said.
And because Ingalsbe was taken immediately to a hospital to treat his injuries, investigating officers were unable to perform field sobriety tests, Allred said.
Harrisville Police Chief Maxwell Jackson said Tuesday he was "fine" with the way Allred resolved things. "We put the case together but, ultimately, a prosecutor has to take it to court," Jackson said.
The chief added, however, that he and his officers also proceeded on the premise that "you shouldn't use central nervous system depressants with alcohol," referring to the sleep medication.
"Based on the evidence at hand, we thought there was enough to file the case in the first place," the chief said. "But without the plea bargain system, the wheels of justice would grind to a screeching halt. We think justice was served on behalf of the state and Mr. Ingalsbe."
Ingalsbe, 28, pleaded guilty to reckless driving, a class B misdemeanor, on Nov. 18 before Harrisville Justice Court Judge James Beesley, who fined the officer $595 and suspended a 45-day jail sentence.
Allred denied that Ingalsbe received any special consideration because he is police officer. He said the resolution was "typical" given the "kind of limited evidence" he had.
The prosecutor had declined to speak about the case until now, while waiting to see if Ingalsbe would appeal his case to district court. Ingalsbe had 30 days to file an appeal, but did not do so, Allred said Monday.
Ogden City Assistant Police Chief Wayne Tarwater said Monday that Ingalsbe, who had been placed on administrative leave, had returned to duty.
Another Ogden police officer charged with drunken driving in is still on administrative leave, Tarwater said.
Officer Robert Buck, 35, was pulled over in August after a Harrisville officer observed him speeding and drifting over the center line.
Buck, who failed a field sobriety test and admitted to police he "had too many to be driving," had a blood-alcohol content of 0.12, according to a police report.
Buck is scheduled for trial Jan. 7 in Harrisville's justice court.
