The head of the Montgomery County firefighters union is facing four drunken-driving-related charges and six traffic citations after police found him driving the wrong way down a divided highway at midnight. John J. Sparks, 59, of Mount Airy, was weaving down the wrong side of Route 40 in Ellicott City and nearly swerved into the median before a Howard County police officer pulled him over on April 18, according to charging documents and officials with access to the police report.
Sparks, who earns $82,818 annually as president of the Montgomery County Career Fire Fighters Association, was arrested with a blood alcohol content that was considerably higher than the legal limit of .08 percent, according to an official who said he wished to remain anonymous because the information is not yet public record.
The arresting officer, Christopher Piper, charged Sparks with two counts of driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, one count of driving while impaired by alcohol, and one count of driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Piper also impounded the 2002 Ford Explorer Sparks was driving and cited him with more than $1,000 in traffic citations for reckless driving, negligent driving, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, failure to obey traffic signs, failure to stay on the right side of the road when required, and failure to drive right of center.
He was not held in jail overnight, officials said.
Sparks did not return phone calls from The Washington Examiner regarding his charges.
The Howard County Police Department and the state’s attorney’s office denied The Examiner’s request for copies of the police report, saying the documents are not open to the public.
Sparks served as a firefighter in Montgomery County for 32 years before he retired in 2004. He was planning to represent himself in court, until he hired a lawyer in early May. His hearing is scheduled for June 30.
