Internal investigators at the DeKalb County Police Department are seeking to determine whether a county commissioner was given preferential treatment.
A police report from a July 12 incident alleges that DeKalb Commissioner Stan Watson “appeared intoxicated,” but was allowed to drive away from a south DeKalb nightclub.
Watson was observed consuming “several alcoholic beverages” at the nightclub, according to the report by Officer O.B. Parker.
“If I haven’t been charged with anything, why are people trying to make stories up?” Watson said. “ I haven’t been charged with DUI. I’m not Jamal Anderson. I’m not Hosea Williams. I’m Stan Watson. I wasn’t drunk. I wasn’t drunk at all.
“The deal is [that] I haven’t been charged with anything,” Watson said. According to police spokeswoman Mekka Parish, “The DeKalb County Police Department’s Internal Affairs unit is investigating this incident to determine if departmental policies and procedures were followed and appropriate actions were taken. No additional information about this incident is available at this time.”
According to the report of an off-duty DeKalb Police officer moonlighting at the club, Watson complained that someone had stolen his wallet.
Watson allegedly accused two women of stealing his wallet. One woman was cited for disorderly conduct after refusing to calm down when warned by the officer.
The officer reported that Watson used profanity and continued to make accusations against the women.
“I informed Mr. Watson…to please behave like a public official as if news cameras were in front of him,” the officer stated in his report.
The officer filled out an incident report about the alleged theft, according to the report.
“I also advised him to have someone take him home because he appeared intoxicated (slurred speech, unsteady walk, glossy red eyes),” the report stated.
At the officer’s request, a supervisor, Sgt. M.B. Porter, went to the scene.
Watson got in his car and later left the scene, according to the police report. Approximately one minute later, he returned, stating that he would let someone take him home.
“Due to circumstances beyond my control, Mr. Watson was allowed to have someone take him home,” the officer stated.
Watson said he was “not drunk or impaired.”
“If my eyes were red or glassy…I had been crying for about three or four days,” Watson said.
“Was I trying to console myself over the death of my sister?” Watson asked. “Yes. Had I been crying for a couple of days? Yes. Were my eyes red? I don’t know; I didn’t look at my eyes. Did I have anything to drink? Yes. I had two glasses of wine. Did I leave the place? Yes. Did I return? Yes. Was I arrested? No. Did I have a DUI ever? No.
“I wasn’t falling down or slobbering,” Watson said.
Watson said that other media outlets have reported that he had two glasses of chardonnay.
“Come on guys, I’m a big guy,” he said. “Two glasses of chardonnay ain’t going to do nothing to me anyway. If I had two glasses of chardonnay, I wasn’t impaired.”
Watson said he drove away from the nightclub, but returned shortly because he was afraid the officer might have him arrested.
“So you know what I did?” Watson asked. “I turned around and came back to the parking lot. I parked my car. I went inside and asked the club manager to take me home.
“I left my car there the whole night,” Watson said. “What else can I do? If that’s not a responsible person, I don’t understand it.”
Watson said he is not going to comment on the matter again until the police department completes its internal investigation.
“I wasn’t drunk driving,” he said.
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