DUI / Drunk Driving / DWI criminal defense news

A state's attorney who once prosecuted Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps for drunken driving has been arrested for the same infraction.

Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis R. Ruark was pulled over Friday night after officers observed him speeding and crossing the center line, Ocean City police said.

Ruark failed a field sobriety test, and a breath test later showed he had a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent, Maryland's legal limit, police said. He was charged with driving under the influence, speeding and failure to keep right of center.

"This, by far, is the saddest day of my professional career," Ruark said Saturday. "I made a tremendous error in judgment."

He said he would try to get his case heard as soon as possible. In the meantime, he said he would not handle any alcohol- or drug-related cases that involve vehicles.

It was Ruark's first drunken-driving arrest, and court records show no other run-ins with the law.

Ruark, a Democrat, has been state's attorney in Wicomico since 1989. He is a member of the county's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, and he prosecuted Phelps in 2004. The athlete pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and received 18 months' probation.

Ocean City police said that at about 9:40 p.m., dispatchers received a 911 phone call advising them that a car was driving erratically and speeding east on Route 90 heading toward Ocean City. The caller provided a description and the tag number of the car, police said.

Shortly thereafter, officers reported that they observed the car at the base of the Route 90 bridge. They followed the vehicle north on Coastal Highway.

Officers said in their report that they observed the vehicle traveling approximately 50 mph in a 40 mph zone. The car turned west on 94th Street, police said, traveled several more blocks and was seen crossing the center yellow line of the road.

Police stopped in the car in area of the 8900 block of Chesapeake Drive. Officers identified the driver as Davis Ruark, state’s attorney for Wicomico County.

After being administered several field sobriety tests, police said, Ruark was taken into custody for driving under the influence of alcohol.

The vehicle Ruark was driving, a 2000 Nissan, was registered to the Wicomico County government, according to police.

Ruark was transported to Ocean City Police Department headquarters, where he was administered a breath test. The test results exceeded the legal blood alcohol concentration of .08, police said.

Contacted early today, Ruark said he would have a statement for the public later in the day.

A Democrat, Ruark has been a lawyer since 1981 and has been state's attorney for Wicomico County since 1989. He was named to the county's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council in 2004.

Ruark's arrest came just hours after his office lost a high-profile case against a Salisbury doctor accused of sexually assaulting a patient. Dr. Mahmaud Shirazi was acquitted by a Wicomico County Circuit Court jury on Friday following a three-day trial.

Ruark was charged with:

-- Driving under the influence of alcohol.

-- Speeding.

--Failure to keep right of center.

--Ruark was processed and released to a responsible party after signing citations.

A trial date has not yet been set by the District Court of Maryland.