Rockdale deputy, previously fired by DeKalb PD for drinking, charged with DUI

According to the detailed report on Ducre’s arrest, the officer noted his Jeep stopped “in a jerky manner” and a cloud of smoke spilled out as the driver rolled down the window. The officer explained to the driver that he’d been pulled over for speeding, to which Ducre responded, “I’m from Rockdale,” the report said.

The officer reported a strong smell of alcohol from the car and said Ducre’s speech was slurred, his pupils were dilated and his eyes were “bloodshot red and glossy.” Another officer arrived, according to the report, and he conducted a field sobriety test. The first officer said he observed Ducre stumbling as he got out of the Jeep, using his hands to maintain his balance against the car.

Ducre refused alcohol tests at the scene and was placed under arrest, the report said. He was booked into the Rockdale County Jail on counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding and reckless driving, along with two counts of improper lane change.

A Rockdale sheriff’s office spokesman confirmed Ducre’s employment and said the deputy had been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. Ducre was hired in November 2021, the spokesman said, a little more than four months after state records show he was fired by the DeKalb County Police Department.

According to records maintained by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST), Ducre worked for DeKalb police from August 2018 to June 2021. He was fired after being subjected to a random alcohol screening while on duty, POST records show.

A case summary in Ducre’s POST history shows he was given a Breathalyzer on May 18, 2021, just after 4:30 p.m. His first result returned a blood-alcohol level of .023%, nearly three times the legal limit to drive. A second test conducted about 15 minutes later returned a BAC of .021%. Ducre handled two calls for service before the tests, the report said.

The following day, Ducre was interviewed by internal affairs investigators and said he’d attended a party the night before the tests. Ducre estimated he’d had “four or five 12-ounce beers and four or five shots of Hennessy,” the case summary said. He told investigators he thought he’d stopped drinking around 3 a.m. the morning of the alcohol test and slept until 12:30 p.m. when he got up for his shift. Less than a month later, he was terminated from his role in DeKalb for violating the department’s drug and alcohol policy.

POST records show that Ducre’s firing was reviewed by the state council in a pre-hearing conference July 19, less than a month before his DUI charge. He was released from the Rockdale jail on more than $5,000 bond Wednesday, the same day he was arrested.

The Rockdale sheriff’s office said no further information was immediately available, but updates would be provided at the completion of their internal investigation.

The AJC has requested dashboard camera footage of Ducre’s traffic stop from the Conyers Police Department.

Holmes, the former Rockdale deputy who was fired after his arrest on multiple charges in December, was taken into custody after a brief high-speed chase with state troopers, a GSP spokesperson said at the time.

He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, fleeing and attempting to elude a police officer, speeding, and possession of an open container, a GSP spokesperson said. He was traveling with three other men who authorities suspected of being drunk, two of whom were also Rockdale deputies. GSP identified the other deputies as 22-year-old Anthony Isaac and 25-year-old Brandon Oglesby.

A spokesman for the Rockdale sheriff’s office confirmed that Holmes and Oglesby were both fired after the December traffic stop and that Isaac remains employed as a deputy.

— Data specialist Jennifer Peebles contributed to this article.