WESTMINSTER, Calif.–A Long Beach police officer was sentenced to 20 days of community service for his guilty plea today to misdemeanor drunken driving while off duty.
Eddie Sanchez, 30, was also ordered to take three months of first-offender alcohol-awareness classes and attend a panel sponsored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving in which victims of drunk drivers tell their stories, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Sanchez was also put on three years of informal probation.
Sanchez left a Long Beach bar about 4:30 p.m. May 24 and got into his 2003 Nissan Altima to visit a friend in Stanton, according to prosecutors.
Sanchez was weaving before stopping at a red light in Garden Grove and idled there even after the light changed to green, according to prosecutors.
Several drivers behind him honked as one motorist walked up to his car, reached inside and turned off the ignition, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Sanchez’s blood-alcohol level was measured at .16, twice the legal limit, according to prosecutors.
