Montgomery County officials are reviewing county employees’ driving privileges after police arrested a Department of Economic Development employee who they said was driving drunk at 8 a.m. in a county-owned sport utility vehicle.
The employee, Cynthia Harrison, has six prior convictions for driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated, according to police and court records. Her criminal record also includes convictions for assault, trespassing and violating a restraining order, court records show.
She is required to have an interlock device, which is designed to block drunken driving, in her personal vehicles, according to a police report.
A county spokeswoman said the county should have been aware of Harrison’s driving record before allowing her access to a county-owned vehicle.
“Clearly, something needs to be strengthened in our policies,” spokeswoman Donna Bigler said.
The county’s chief administrative officer, Tim Firestine, is putting together a work group to consider whether new rules or background checks are needed to prevent a similar incident, Bigler said. The county manages a fleet of more than 2,200 cars and SUVs.
Bigler said that Harrison, whose job is to help local businesses become more profitable, was permitted to use a county vehicle for business purposes, but had violated county policy by taking a county-owned vehicle home.
Harrison was arrested in March after cutting off traffic while leaving a McDonald’s drive-through in Damascus, about eight miles from her Mount Airy home.
Harrison has been on paid leave for a month and could not be reached for comment. Her arrest was first reported in the Gazette newspaper.
Bigler said Harrison makes $79,578 a year and has worked for the county for 10 years.
Harrison’s arrest is the third reported incident in recent months involving county employees who were accused of driving drunk while operating county-owned vehicles.
Former Assistant Fire Chief Greg DeHaven caused a four-car pileup when he was driving back from a Washington Redskins game in a county-owned SUV in November, according to county records. The Examiner first reported the accident, and that a junior police officer on the scene thought he may have smelled alcohol on DeHaven’s breath, but a police sergeant and captain said they did not. The crash and the county’s response have sparked several investigations.
Montgomery County Police Officer Fernando Martinez has been assigned to administrative duties and had his arrest powers suspended while awaiting a July court date for charges that he crashed a marked police car while driving drunk, according to a county spokeswoman.
