A Cincinnati police captain accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated was found not guilty by a Clermont County jury on Friday, according to Enquirer media partner Fox19.
Cincinnati Police Capt. Amanda Caton, 56, was stopped at 2:24 a.m. on Feb. 9, 2020 after a Loveland officer said she hesitated at a green light and drove left of center through a turn.
When the officer activated the overhead lights to initiate a traffic stop, per his report, he said the vehicle was slow to stop, passing an entrance to a parking area and then stopping on the apron of another parking area. The vehicle did not pull off the main road.
According to the report filed by Loveland police, there was a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle.
The officer asked Caton for her information and she handed him her license. The report said that she asked in a slurred voice “does it help that I am a police officer?” The officer said Caton's eyes were glassy and bloodshot.
In video of the incident, Caton and her husband, Cincinnati police Lt. Patrick Caton, are adamant that neither one of them are intoxicated, even after the arresting officer performed a field sobriety test using eye movement on Amanda Caton.
According to the police report, Patrick Caton tried to insult the Loveland officers and he approached one in an aggressive manner. Amanda Caton stepped in front of her husband to separate him from one of the officers, the report states.
Caton pleaded not guilty to the charge last year. Her lawyer, Steve Adams, said the police officer who arrested his client "was trolling for DUIs."
Caton was promoted to the rank of captain in June 2019. She joined Cincinnati Police Department in March 2004 as a member of the 96th recruit class. She has served in Districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 as well as the Central Business Section, Internal Investigation Section and the Support Bureau Administration.
According to prior Enquirer reporting, Patrick Caton is a lieutenant with the department.
In 2003, Patrick Caton was fired by the CPD after he was tried and acquitted for assault in the 2001 death of Roger Owensby.
But an independent arbitrator reinstated Patrick Caton a year later and even awarded him $200,000 in back pay.
Then-Mayor Mark Mallory called the ruling "outrageous."
Enquirer media partner Fox19 contributed to this report.
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