Morrow's ex-chief pleads guilty to DUI

By Marcus K. Garner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Former Morrow police Chief Jeffery Baker pleaded guilty Wednesday to driving drunk in a pre-Thanksgiving incident behind the wheel of his police car.

Channel 2 Action News Jeff Baker

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Baker was sentenced to serve 12 months probation, 150 hours of community service and pay a fine of $600, according to Clayton County State Court records.

These penalties come after he was forced to resign as the City of Morrow’s top cop and lost his police certification with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council in December.

On Nov. 16, Baker was found asleep at the wheel of his city-issued police car at a traffic light less than a mile from police headquarters.

After disregarding instructions from one of his own officers to pull over, Baker drove to his reserved parking space at police headquarters where he parked and refused to take a field sobriety test or blood test, police said.

Baker had red, glassy eyes, slurred speech and “the overwhelming odor of an alcoholic beverage about his breath and body,” according to police records.

Eventually, he was arrested.

Officers searching Baker’s car afterward found eight nearly empty beer cans, seven beer bottle tops, and an ice chest with two unopened bottles of alcoholic lemonade, according to records.

He was booked into the Clayton County jail and later released on $6,300 bond.

He was charged with seven criminal traffic counts including DUI and disobeying an officer, but pleaded to the DUI charge, according to court records.