Morrow police chief arrested

A police report obtained by Channel 2 Action News shows Morrow Police officers tried to stop their chief from driving before he was arrested for drunken driving.

Morrow Police Chief Jeffery Baker was arrested at 1:20 a.m. on seven different charges including DUI, running a red light, open container violation and disobeying the person directing traffic. He was released from the Clayton County Jail around 4:40 a.m.

According to the report, one of Baker's own officers observed the chief asleep at the wheel at the intersection of Highway 54 and Southlake Parkway. The officer reported Baker's eyes were red and glassy and his speech was slurred, but when he tried to get him to pull over Baker drove around the officer and left, the report said.

The report said after the arrest police found eight 12-ounce cans of Natural Light beer in Baker's patrol car.

"You're innocent until proven guilty, but Lord have mercy when you get charged like this. This is not a good day for law enforecement in Georgia," said Ken Vance, Council Director of the Georgia Police Officers and Training Council. "When you hear thingslike this you wonder about the professionalism of the person."

Clayton County's Solicitor General told Channel 2 investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer she's consulting with the District Attorney to consider a felony charge of violating the oath of office.

"If other charges come up that may include a felony then we'll temporarily suspend his certification, probably within 3 or 4 days of that situation happening," said Vance.

It isn’t the first time Baker has been in the hot seat. In 2008, the Peace Officer and Standards Council voted to revoke Baker's certification after it found he had lied about taking a required firearms qualification course. Channel 2’s Tom Jones confronted Baker about the incident, asking if he did attend the training.

• READ: Police report on Jeff Baker DUI arrest

“I did, yes, I attended one of them, and I made a mistake just like I stated," Baker told Jones at the time.

Baker is still in the process of appealing the council's decision, which is why he can still serve as police chief. After his arrest, he was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

Baker did not return calls Fleischer made to his cellphone.