JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has been suspended without pay after Sheriff T.K. Waters said he drove his patrol car while he was intoxicated.
Officer Justin Marino, a four-year veteran with JSO, has been charged with DUI.
According to Waters, officers were called around midnight Tuesday to the home of Marino’s girlfriend, where they learned the couple had been in a fight while they were both drunk. The girlfriend told the officers that Marino, 26, had left in his police cruiser, while still intoxicated.
Minutes later, officers found Marino, who was not on duty at the time, pulling into a gas station parking lot on Gate Parkway.
Waters said Marino showed clear signs of impairment, including bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath.
Marino refused field sobriety tests and was arrested on a DUI charge.
“He should not have been in his police car. As a matter of fact, he should not have been in a car at all,” Waters said.
Marino has been suspended without pay. He is under an internal investigation and could face up to termination, Waters said.
“Our collective belief in openness and transparency and accountability outweighs any personal allegiance to JSO employees,” Waters said. “No one is above the law.”
According to his employment history, Marino was twice found at fault in crashes — one in November 2020 and one in June 2022.
Copyright 2023 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
