Deputy charged with DUI had been in trouble before

DESTIN — An Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy has been charged with DUI after a motorcycle wreck Thursday night.

Sgt. Ted Cason, 48, of Shalimar, was suspended without pay Friday, pending an internal investigation.

Cason was found lying on the ground next to his motorcycle near 314 Harbor Boulevard just before 10 p.m. Thursday.

He was bleeding from the forehead but declined medical attention, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. He also refused to take a field sobriety test or an alcohol breath test, the release said.

Cason smelled of alcohol, had glassy, watery eyes, a red face and slurred speech and admitted to EMS personnel that he had a couple drinks, according to the citation.

He also said he had lost a .45-caliber firearm. Deputies searched the crash scene for the firearm but could not find it. A short time later, they found the gun in a leather holster Cason was wearing.

Cason has worked with the Sheriff’s Office since 1992, less a few years absence when he served in the Army.

He has been in trouble before, according to his personnel file at the Sheriff’s Office.

In April 2002, Cason was demoted and suspended for 30 days without pay for improper use of alcohol off duty.

He ran out of gas on U.S. Highway 98 early one morning and called the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office for help.

He “left little doubt” in the minds of both Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County deputies at the scene that he was too drunk to drive, but had driven anyway, according to the file.

Santa Rosa County deputies declined to press DUI charges because Cason was not behind the wheel when they arrived.

Cason acknowledged that his actions were “stupid” and said he had set up an appointment with a counselor to deal with possible alcohol abuse issues, according to his file.

“It will never happen again,” he wrote in the report.

In April 2008 Cason was investigated for aggravated assault with a firearm also involving the off-duty use of alcohol, according to the file.

The victim dropped the charges, but the incident triggered an internal investigation that apparently was never completed. The investigator assigned to the case left the Sheriff’s Office without submitting a report, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

In April 2011, Cason left his unmarked Sheriff’s Office car in a parking lot in downtown Fort Walton Beach overnight. A city police officer noticed it and saw a gun lying on the back seat.

A sheriff’s deputy picked up the car and drove it to Cason’s house.

Cason told Sheriff’s Lt. Charlie Nix, who looked into the issue, that he had dinner with a woman and then left in her car to go to her house. He said he had drunk only a sip from her glass of wine.

He said he was driving his patrol car because his personal car was being repaired.

Nix reported that the incident was isolated and that no further action was required.

Cason’s file also is thick with commendations and letters of appreciation for his work.

State Attorney Bill Eddins praised Cason’s work on the murder investigation that led to Thomas McCoy’s arrest.

Residents thanked him for teaching women’s gun safety courses and for helping prevent two men from committing suicide. He was frequently citied for his professionalism and courtesy.

Cason is scheduled to appear in court on the DUI charges Feb. 21 at 9 a.m.