Steep price for a bad choice

After a night of drinking, a deputy drove out for a snack. He didn't return.

By JOHN FRANK
Published July 10, 2007

Spring Hill firefighters work to remove Michael Stegner from the car he was driving when he ran into the back of a flatbed truck.
	[Times photo: Ron Thompson]

SPRING HILL - The night Deputy Michael Stegner died began like many before.

A group of sheriff's deputies. The bar at R Beach. Drinking till the bar closed.

Stegner, 27, and four other deputies met at the hangout in Hernando Beach about 10 p.m. April 12. They left more than four hours later.

The five-year veteran, recently promoted to undercover status, split a pitcher of beer and had at least one mixed drink, his friends said. No one remembers exactly how much alcohol Stegner drank. They said he was fine to drive.

About 4 a.m.-- after driving home and leaving again -- Stegner drove his unmarked patrol car into the back of a tow truck on Spring Hill Boulevard. He was speeding and never hit the brakes.

Details about the final hours of Stegner's life came to light on Monday as the Hernando County Sheriff's Office released an internal affairs investigation.

The inch-thick report confirms he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.223, nearly three times the point at which Florida law presumes impairment.

Sheriff Richard Nugent said Stegner was a good cop who "paid a steep price for making a bad choice."

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The choices began with Stegner's decision to drive home from the bar. His fellow deputies -- Adam Harris, Clifford Faulkingham, Michael Welshans and Wayne Peterson - didn't object.

If he was too intoxicated to drive, they would have made him get a ride, the deputies told investigators under oath. But they didn't think he was impaired. No slurred speech. No stumbling.

Stegner returned home safely, and Harris joined him. Harris drank a beer. Stegner made himself a mixed drink.

Minutes later, Stegner wanted to get food at 7-Eleven. Harris suggested I-HOP and said he'd drive. Stegner, he warned, had had too much to drink.

Stegner didn't listen. He walked outside for a cigarette, Harris thought. Ten minutes later, Harris went outside and saw Stegner's unmarked gold Toyota Camry gone. Harris went home.

A receipt from the 7-Eleven at Spring Hill Drive and Kenlake Avenue stamped 3:54 a.m. and found in Stegner's pocket shows he bought two sandwiches. While there, Stegner exchanged greetings with Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Dewayne Maddux. The two didn't talk long, and Maddux said he saw no signs of intoxication.

At 4:10 a.m., Maddux received a call about a fatal accident less than 500 yards down the road.

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In discussing the report Monday, Nugent said, "We pride ourselves on making a lot of DUI arrests."

But he did not second-guess the deputies who were drinking with Stegner. "Everyone was drinking," Nugent said. "When everyone's drinking, it's kind of hard to say if someone's intoxicated."

None of the other deputies will face any punishment. "Punished for what?" he asked. "They are legally 21; they can go into a bar and drink. There is nothing to say they were intoxicated."

Larry Coggins, a spokesman for the Highway Patrol, said it might not have been obvious that Stegner was drunk when he left the bar.

"Some people will have a few drinks and are torn up," he said. "Some people who drink a lot are what we call walking drunks." There are no visible signs of the intoxication, he said.

Nugent said he plans to use the incident to educate his deputies and staff about the importance of a designated driver.

Stegner's family is well known in local law enforcement. His father, James Stegner, is a detective. His mother, Peggy, and sister, Michelle Eddy, are clerks for the Sheriff's Office.

James Stegner will help lead the education effort, Nugent said. "Hopefully out of something that is very negative ... we can use it as a positive teaching tool," the sheriff said. "By having his dad in there, I think it's really going to strike a nerve or a chord."

John Frank can be reached at jfrank@sptimes.com or 754-6114.

Deputy Michael Stegner's final hours:

April 12

9:30 p.m. Stegner leaves his Spring Hill home for R Beach, a restaurant in Hernando Beach, stopping at a Bank of America for cash on the way.

10 p.m. Stegner arrives at R Beach, a popular hangout for deputies on Shoal Line Boulevard.

2:30 a.m. Stegner and friends, including two fellow deputies, leave the bar. He invites them back to his home.

3 a.m. Stegner arrives home and is joined by Deputy Adam Harris. They have a drink and talk about going to get food.

3:30 a.m. Stegner leaves unexpectedly in his unmarked patrol car for a 7-Eleven after Harris warns him not to drive because he's had a few drinks.

3:54 a.m. A time stamp on a 7-Eleven receipt shows he bought two sandwiches.

4:05 a.m. He drives away from the convenience store toward his home.

4:10 a.m. A 911 call alerts dispatch to the fatal accident 500 yards down the road.

[Last modified July 9, 2007, 20:57:38]