Fort Worth officer fired after second alcohol-related arrest

A Fort Worth police officer who allegedly had a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit when he crashed his car in March has been fired.

Evan Wincovitch was indefinitely suspended effective Aug. 11, according to a disciplinary letter filed with the Civil Service Commission.

He plans to appeal his termination, his attorney, Terry Daffron Porter, said Tuesday.

“We are anxious to review the department’s investigation and to prosecute his appeal,” Porter said.

Wincovitch remains charged with driving while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.15, a Class A misdemeanor, Tarrant County court records show.

According to the disciplinary letter, Fort Worth police found Wincovitch inside his wrecked Hyundai Sonata around 2:35 a.m. March 3 in the 8300 block of Randol Mill Road.

Tire marks indicated that the car had traveled across the opposite lane of traffic, off the road and into a light pole, the letter says.

“Upon further observation the responding officer noticed that the windows were fogged, but he could see someone was still in the vehicle,” the letter says. “The responding officer opened the driver-side door and observed a white male in the fetal position resting over the center console into the passenger seat.”

The responding officer recognized Wincovitch as an officer after asking him to step outside the running vehicle. He noted that Wincovitch had bloodshot eyes, slurred his speech, was unsteady and smelled of alcohol, the letter says.

When asked by the officer how much he had had to drink, Wincovitch replied, “Probably too much,” the letter says.

Police obtained a search warrant for a blood draw after Wincovitch refused to submit to a breath and blood test. Tests later revealed that he had a blood- alcohol content of 0.279 — more than three times the legal limit.

Wincovitch, a Fort Worth officer since 2008, was arrested by Saginaw police in June 2010 for public intoxication after wrecking his SUV and abandoning it on railroad tracks. Police later found him walking with cuts and scrapes on his face and body and smelling of alcohol.

He was suspended for three days after admitting to internal investigators that he had drunk about 71/2 alcoholic beverages, including a shot of liquor, over almost six hours before wrecking his SUV.

He pleaded no contest to public intoxication and received 30 days’ deferred disposition. He paid the ticket and completed the sentence without new violations, and the case was dismissed.

This story was originally published August 18, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Fort Worth officer fired after second alcohol-related arrest."