Police chief mixes vodka and high-speed driving, loses job

MOSS POINT, Miss. – A south Mississippi police chief is losing his job after a newspaper reported he was clocked driving 109 mph in a city vehicle and he told officers he had consumed “at least three vodkas.”

Moss Point aldermen voted 5-1 Tuesday to fire Chief Art McClung, but they also gave him the option of resigning within seven days, the Sun Herald reported (http://bit.ly/2co2XY1 ).

McClung was suspended hours after the newspaper reported Aug. 30 that officers in neighbouring Pascagoula had stopped him July 29 after observing him driving erratically and going nearly double the 55 mph speed limit.

Pascagoula Police Chief Kenny Johnson said he told his officers to give McClung a ride home, and no ticket was issued.

The newspaper filed public records requests to obtain information about the stop. In police dash camera videos, officers are heard saying, “He’s obviously DUI,” and “He’s toast. He knows it, too. You could tell from the time we walked up.” One officer can be heard saying McClung admitted to having had “at least three vodkas.”

McClung was handcuffed and put in the back of a patrol car. A Pascagoula officer then called his supervisor to tell him the driver was McClung. The supervisor told Johnson, who gave the order for officers to take McClung home.

Pascagoula officials have taken no action against Johnson or the officers involved in the stop.

McClung initially told the Sun Herald he was not impaired and that being stopped without charges, “ain’t no news. People get stopped all the time.” He declined to comment Tuesday after the aldermen met.