Deputy charged in DUI, officer assault

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) -  

A Portsmouth sheriff’s deputy has been charged with driving under the influence and assaulting a police officer after a hit and run involving a utility pole early Friday morning.

Jan Clark with the Portsmouth Police Department said officers received a call for a vehicle hitting a utility pole around 2:15 a.m. in the 5600 block of High Street. Calls from witnesses indicated a BMW was dragging a utility pole on the street.

As officers were en route, more calls came in suggesting the vehicle was in the area of Reese Drive and Castle Way. Once on scene, officers found a gray BMW with damage and a male driver who was uninjured.

Investigation revealed the vehicle was traveling east on High Street when it went off the road and hit a utility pole as well as a tree, Clark said. She added a second utility pole was damaged when the first pole fell on it. The driver continued driving to Reese Drive.

Officers arrested the driver, identified as Stephen M. Fredericks, 31, of Portsmouth, and charged him with driving under the influence and hit and run in connection to the crash. Clark said as Fredericks was being processed, he assaulted a Portsmouth police officer.

A new charge of assault on a law enforcement officer was added.

Clark said Fredericks is employed as a sheriff’s deputy at the Portsmouth Sheriff’s Office. His employment status with the office remains unknown at this time.