Evening star., 1951-07-27
Dugan Cleared,
Sought
For Drunk Tests
Members of Board
To Demand Use of
Machine by Police

NiuCHIHS Dy FOICS
Arlington County Board Mem
ber Daniel A. Dugan, free of a
charge of being drunk in public,
will be asked at the boards meet
ing tomorrow to join in a demand
that the police departments still
unused machine for testing in
toxication be placed in operation.
After more than seven hours
OF testimony by Is witnesses,
County Court Judge Hugh Reid
said that, because the drunko-
meter is still lying in a corner
OF the police department." there
was not sufficient evidence to
convict Mr.. Dugan nor to clear
him conclusively.
For seven or eight years, Judge
Reid said, he has been insisting
that some instrument for meas
uring intoxication be authorized
by the County Board. The ap-
preparation was made several
ago, he said, but for some
reason the drunkometer has never
been put in use.
Not Aware 1t Was Unused.
Mrs. Florence Cannon, board
chairman, and Robert w. Cox.
a member, who attended the
hearing. said they will propose
action at tomorrow's meeting to
get the machine into operation.
They said they did not know the
instrument was not being used.
Mr.. Dugan approved the motion
to buy the machine.
Carlisle JohnStone, county di-
rector of public safety. said the
machine is not being used be-
cause it has not been accepted.
Before it could be of value to
the department. he said, approval
should be obtained from judges,
attorneys and physicians.
Mr.. Dugan. non-partisan, was
arrested Sunday after he had been
horseback riding on Lee boure-
ward.
The defendant took the stand
to tell the court he had two
drinks of liquor about / pm. Sum-
day and a bottle of beer about
3 pm. and no other intoxicants.
He was stopped by police about
5 pm, treated later at Arlington
Hospital for an injured shoulder,
and was booked at the police
station about 8 pm.
He said he was thrown from the
horse twice in the course of a long
ride. The falls. he said. hurt his
chest where he was injured last
Mr.. Dugan shot himself
with a rifle just before he was
tried and acquitted on charges of
malfeasance in office.
Blames Heat and Pain.
At no time that day was he in
toxicated. Mr.. Dugan said. He
blamed fatigue, the heat and the
pain in his chest and shoulder
for his inability to maintain COM
plete control over the horse.
Policeman Jackie Shoots said
that, when Mr.. Dugan was arrest
ed, the board member was stag
gering, there was strong odor of
alcohol on his breath, his speech
was indistinct and he looked as
if he were ready to fall asleep. Mr..
Shoots said Mr.. Dugan admitted
he was tight" The policeman
said Mr.. Dugan asked if the
drunkometer was working and was
told it was not being used.
Paul Schmick of 220 Pimmit
drive, Falls Church. Star pho
tographer, said he was driving
along Lee boulevard and recog-
nized Mr.. Dugan on the horse.
Mr.. Schmick said that, after he
saw Mr.. Dugan fall from the horse
near Lee Boulevard Heights in
County, he called police
to. report he believed the board
might have been injured.
Charles E. Planck, 1924 North
Pershing drive, told Judge Reid
he stopped to help Mr.. Dugan
after the Lee Boulevard Heights
fall. Mr.. Planck said that "by
any reasonable standard of
drunkenness, Mr.. Dugan was not
drunk"
The view of Miss Ruth Chavez.
Arlington Hospital nurse super
visor regarding Mr.. Dugan.'s con-
dition when he was brought there
for treatment of his shoulder was
that. eff I was in the same state
Mr.. Dugan was in, I'd say I was
drunk"
Under lengthy cross-examina-
ton by Frank L. Ball, sr., at
torney for Mr.. Dugan, Miss Cha
vez said she had erased from the
record book in the emergency
room a notation she wrote soon
after the board member was
brought in. The word she erased,
she said, was "Ethel?", which she
Interpreted as notation made to
indicate that a patient has been
Miss. Chavez said she
erased the word because I didn't
want to be involved in this"
Under further questioning by
Mr.. Ball, Miss Chavez said she and
Policeman Shoots, who brought
Mr.. Dugall to the hospital, have
been out together socially" She
admitted that. before she saw
Mr.. Dugan, Mr.. Shoots told her,
He is mere for driving a horse
while drunk"
DR.. George H. Bisharat, a resi-
dent in surgery at the hospital,
testified MIR Dugan was not drunk,
his coordination was normal, he
had no difficulty walking and al
though there was an odor of al
cohol on his breath, it was not
strong.
Assistant Commemorative At
torney PAU G. Varoutsos insisted,
however. that DR.. Bisharat did not
see Mr. Dugan for some time after
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