BANGOR, Maine -- The Bangor police detective charged last month with drunken driving while he was on duty has pleaded not guilty through his attorney.
Erik Tall, a 15-year veteran of the force who has spent the last three years keeping tabs on the the city's roughly 200 registered sex offenders, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center on one count of operating under the influence of intoxicants.
His blood alcohol level was .13 percent, well above the legal limit of .08 percent, Penobscot County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy said last month.
Instead of appearing himself, Tall's attorney, Marvin Glazier of Bangor, earlier this week submitted to the court a waiver of arraignment and a not guilty plea on the detective's behalf.
An attorney entering a waiver and plea on behalf of a client is not unusual.
On Tuesday, the attorney for Ted Nugent's drummer Mick Brown, 55, of Cave Creek, Ariz., entered a guilty plea to a drunken driving charge and paid a $1,000 fine on Brown's behalf. Brown never appeared in court in Maine.
Tall, 39, of Bangor is scheduled to appear in court again on Jan. 10.
The detective was placed on unpaid administrative leave after his Oct. 3 arrest. His current employment status was not available early Wednesday morning.
The charge was lodged against Tall after someone contacted Bangor police around 6:30 p.m. Oct. 3 to say an on-duty detective was intoxicated at the Airport Mall on Union Street, the prosecutor said last month. Fellow police officers went to check on him.
Lt. Mark Hathaway, the city's interim police chief at the time of Tall's arrest, charged the detective with operating under the influence, according to a previous report.
Before he joined the Bangor police force, Tall worked for the Orono Police Department and the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office, according to the Bangor Daily News archives.
Copyright 2012 - Bangor Daily News, Maine
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
