Famed DUI prosecutor arrested for DUI
Published 10:46 pm Saturday, February 23, 2008
SALISBURY, Md. — 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 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, 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, is a member of the county’s Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, and he prosecuted Phelps in 2004. The athlete pleaded guilty and received 18 months’ probation.
