Off-duty IMPD officer arrested for drunk driving
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis police officer arrested over the weekend for drunk driving with his child in the vehicle is now on administrative leave, the department confirmed Monday.
James Cox, 35, faces two misdemeanor counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, online court records show.
Cox was off-duty early Sunday when an officer noticed a vehicle going 8-90 mph and swerving in traffic to pass another vehicle on Southeastern Avenue near Prospect Street, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a release.
The officer caught up to the vehicle and pulled it over.
Officer Michael Cheh wrote in a probable cause affidavit that he could “smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the driver area and from James as he briefly spoke to him.”
Cheh says that was when he noticed Cox’s 11-year-old daughter in the passenger seat.
Cox stepped out of the car when asked and then failed several field sobriety tests, IMPD says.
Cheh then asked the off-duty officer where he was coming from and Cox replied, “from a play date for his daughter downtown,” court papers say.
Cox then admitted to taking two shots of tequila “approximately two hours ago before going to a playdate,” according to Cheh.
He told officers he was speeding and “went around the vehicle because he was being stupid trying to get his daughter home so she could use the bathroom.”
Officers put Cox in a patrol car and he was taken to the Community Justice Center for a breath test. According to a probable cause affidavit, the result was 0.84 — just over the legal limit.
Cox was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a passenger under the age of 18.
The off-duty officer was booked into the Marion County Jail around 3:30 a.m. Monday and released about nine hours later, online jail records show.
His daughter and his vehicle were picked up at the scene by his girlfriend, court papers say.
Cox was placed on administrative leave and “does not have any law enforcement powers at this time,” IMPD said Monday.
Online court records show Cox has an initial hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. on Oct. 22.
Cox was charged in 2021 for domestic battery and has previously been suspended from the police department.
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