Metro officer accused of drunk driving

A Metropolitan Police Department officer was on paid administrative leave following his Tuesday morning drunken driving arrest in Henderson.

David Michael Denton, 33, was arrested after crashing his department sedan into a median near the intersection of Green Valley and Horizon Ridge parkways.

A passerby called 911 about 12:45 a.m. after seeing the smoking car stuck on the median.

Denton failed several field sobriety tests, including a preliminary breath test that registered a 0.178 percent blood-alcohol content, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, according to a police report.

While Denton was being booked into the Henderson Detention Center, he became irate with Henderson officers, telling them, “I have 10 years on, so treat me with some respect,” the report said.

Later, while a nurse took his blood, Denton cussed at the officer.

Denton has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation and the outcome of the drunken driving case.

Authorities are not releasing his booking photo because he works in a “sensitive capacity” in the department, a Las Vegas police spokesman said.