MPD officer faces DWI charge

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

A Marion police officer is suspended without pay following driving while intoxicated and breath-test refusal charges placed against him Friday night.
In a prepared statement released Monday, Marion Police Chief Michael Roberts said Virginia State Police charged Sgt. Shawn L. Conklin, 39, of Glade Spring with driving while intoxicated and refusal to submit to a breath test.
According to the Virginia State Police, VSP charged Conklin Feb. 5 at approximately 9 p.m. The incident occurred outside of the town limits in Smyth County, the statement said. 
Reached at his office Monday, Roberts said the incident occurred in the “Thomas Bridge, Scratch Gravel area.”
A copy of an e-mail from VSP Sgt. Michael Conroy provided by Roberts said Conklin was driving a 1998 Volkswagen and “had turned off the road in to a driveway, and got stuck in a snow-covered yard. The vehicle sustained little damage and was removed by a towtruck. As a result of the trooper’s investigation, Mr. Conklin was charged with DUI, first offense, and refusal to take a breath test. He was taken to Abingdon Regional Jail and his court date is scheduled for March 18, 2010 in Smyth County General District Court.”
Roberts’ prepared statement said Conklin posted bond and was released Friday night. It said the Smyth County Sheriff’s Department also responded to the incident, and VSP arrested Conklin.
Marion became the second police department in the county to see an officer charged with DUI in a four-week period. Off-duty Chilhowie Police Sgt. David C. Cullop was charged Jan. 9 with driving under the influence after, police said, he collided head-on into a truck while driving in the wrong lane across a bridge. No one was injured in the crash.
VSP said Cullop’s 2007 Dodge Caliber crossed the center line and hit a 2004 Ford Ranger as the vehicles met on a narrow bridge. Both were traveling at around 25 mph, he said. VSP estimated $8,000 in damage to Cullop’s car and another $5,000 to the pickup truck.
Court papers showed suspension of Cullop’s driver’s license for seven days and noted the charge was for a first offense.
CPD Chief Steve Price said the department conducted an investigation and confirmed the following week that Cullop resigned.