UNDERCOVER OFFICER WAS `NOT OUT PARTYING,' SHERIFF SAYS OF REPORT

COLUMBIA - An on-duty Richland County undercover officer killed in a
single-car accident last fall had an alcohol level more than twice the
state's legal limit and was speeding, a Highway Patrol investigation
found.

Donnie R. Washington's blood alcohol content was 0.18 percent when he
lost control of his sport utility vehicle on Oct. 16, the patrol said
in a Dec. 10 report obtained by The State newspaper. The state's
blood-alcohol limit is 0.08 percent.

Washington was traveling 57 mph when his sport utility vehicle went
airborne in an area where the speed limit is 45 mph, the patrol found.

Narcotics officers are allowed to drink on duty to preserve their
undercover roles, but Sheriff Leon Lott said Thursday that Washington
used bad judgment by drinking too much and driving.

Still, Lott said he is not convinced that drinking caused the wreck.

"He could have fallen asleep," Lott said. No witnesses have been
found, and the investigation remains open, Lott said.

Washington, whom Lott once called "a role-model narcotics agent," died
within an hour of the wreck, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said.

Lott said it is unfair to compare Washington's wreck with one
involving a private motorist who chooses to drink and drive.

Lott acknowledged that if Washington had survived, he should have been
ticketed for driving under the influence.