A retired Sutter County judge is suspected of drunken driving after his arrest in a restaurant parking lot, according to police.
Timothy J. Evans, 63, was arrested by Yuba City police on suspicion of driving under the influence and being involved in a hit-and-run, property-damage accident, police spokeswoman Shawna Pavey said Tuesday.
Evans was arrested at the Red Robin restaurant parking lot just after noon Monday.
Police were contacted by a witness who reported that Evans hit a planter and a pickup truck when he pulled his gold Buick LeSabre into the restaurant parking lot from Colusa Avenue, then took three tries to line up in the parking space, Pavey said.
The witness called police with details about the suspect’s clothing and car but did not mention the judge by name, Pavey said.
“I don’t believe the witness had any idea who it was,” Pavey said.
Officers contacted Evans inside the restaurant and asked him to step outside, where he failed a field sobriety test, Pavey said. She said Evans’ blood-alcohol level was “well above” the legal limit of .08 percent.
Pavey said the officers did not see Evans consuming any alcohol inside the restaurant.
Evans was arrested without incident and taken to Sutter County Jail. But he was not booked because he had a medical condition the jail could not handle. He was taken to Rideout Memorial Hospital, where he was held after doctors refused to clear him for jail, Pavey said.
Evans declined comment when contacted at his home Tuesday.
The Sutter County District Attorney’s Office did not return a phone call regarding Evans’ arrest.
The retired judge had served as recently as Sept. 1 as a visiting judge in Yuba County Superior Court when he heard a high-profile wrongful termination case filed by Dr. Michael Richman against Fremont-Rideout Health Group.
Evans threw out a $24 million jury verdict won by Richman.
Steve Konishi, Yuba County Superior Court executive officer, said Sept. 1 was the last time Evans served as a judge there. Konishi said Evans is not assigned to Yuba County.
“It’s been a while since Judge Evans was even here,” Konishi said.
Evans retired from Sutter County Superior Court in 2003 after a 25-year career on the bench. The last eight were spent as the county’s family law judge.
He continued to serve as a visiting judge in other counties. But he ran into problems recently in Shasta County because of an exchange he had with a deputy district attorney while presiding over a drug case in June.
Evans was suspended shortly after a prosecutor there took exception to his remarks that he would only send an ill woman to jail who wanted to opt out of the drug program if the prosecutor joined her in the cell. He also called the prosecutor’s request for jail time “B.S.”
The state Administrative Office of Courts makes visiting judge assignments to county courts. Phone messages left there were not returned Tuesday.
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Source: appealdemocrat.com