Police sergeant faces termination in DUI charges

Jen Lawson

Monday, July 18, 2005 | 10:41 a.m.

A Metro Police sergeant is facing a termination hearing at the end of the month after being charged with drunken driving and then leaving the scene of a collision in a separate wreck 10 months later, authorities said.

Sgt. Paul Pagano, 40, who is assigned to the Downtown Area Command, is scheduled to stand trial Wednesday on charges of drunken driving and failing to maintain a travel lane stemming from a wreck on Dec. 7, 2003.

Pagano, who has been a Metro officer for 13 years, was heading down Western Avenue near Interstate 15 and Sahara Avenue in his department-issued Ford Explorer when he drifted to the side of the road and hit a chain link fence, according to the police report about the collision.

His vehicle struck and ruptured a main water line, sending water gushing out of the broken pipe, before he crashed into the fence again, a police report notes. Medical personnel with Las Vegas Fire & Rescue arrived first and they told police Pagano tried to back up his vehicle before police arrived, but was unable to do so.

Pagano told officers he drank "one beer at an unknown location," but he had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, the report says.

He was taken to University Medical Center's trauma unit to be treated for injuries, and police issued him a citation there for DUI and failing to maintain a travel lane.

It's standard practice for police to cite a suspected drunken driver who suffered injuries in a wreck rather than making an arrest, Sgt. Chris Jones, police spokesman, said.

While that case was pending, Pagano was involved in another collision Oct. 10, 2004. After hitting a parked car while driving a friend's vehicle in Summerlin, Pagano drove away from the scene, police said, leaving behind the car bumper and license plate.

After an investigation police traced the wreck back to Pagano. He was cited for leaving the scene.

Internal affairs is investigating at least one other officer after a drunken driving arrest.

Homicide Detective Sheila Huggins, 44, was arrested a month ago after a citizen reported that a Ford Crown Victoria was driving erratically near Eastern Avenue and Interstate 216, the police report says.

Officers wrote in the report that Huggins had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. She had been driving her department-issued vehicle.

She told police she drank six or seven glasses of wine, and she failed a field sobriety test at the scene, according to the report.

She was convicted of drunken driving in 1999 and paid a fine, court records show.

Metro's discipline guide says a second drunken driving violation calls for major suspension -- 40 to 160 hours, unpaid -- or termination.

An employee would receive the same range of punishment as a result of one violation of driving a Metro vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

If Huggins is able to keep her job, it's likely she will be reassigned from the homicide section. Those arrested for drunken driving are not permitted to work in a specialized section because of liability issues, authorities said.