An off-duty Fort Myers Police officer who officials say tried to avoid a D.U.I. checkpoint on College Parkway has been charged with driving under the influence.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office was conducting the multi-agency checkpoint with assistance from Fort Myers Police Department officers Saturday morning. According to the booking report Officer Leon Young, 40, attempted to avoid the checkpoint by entering an adjacent parking lot at 2:01 a.m. When deputies approached his car they noticed signs of inebriation along with a green leafy substance on the front of his shirt, which had the appearance of marijuana, athorities said. Canine narcotics units from LCSO conducted a free air search of the car and gained a positive alert to the presence of narcotics, however no drugs were located.
Young became belligerent with deputies conducting the investigation, officials said.
After a series of field sobriety exercises Young was charged with DUI.
Fort Myers Police Chief Doug Baker has a zero tolerance for the kind of behavior described, his office said.
“I am extremely disappointed,” Baker said in a prepared statement. “This is not the conduct that we would expect from one of our officers. State Statute and department policy requires due process and Officer Young has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a criminal investigation and an internal affairs investigation.”

No other information was released.

Source: Fort Myers Police Department