Deputy suspended after

DUI arrest in Fountain

FOUNTAIN – Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford has suspended Steven Daniel House without pay after he was arrested yesterday by the Florida Highway Patrol for DUI following a Thursday afternoon crash.  House, age 32, was employed as a deputy at the BCSO.

The BCSO and the Florida Highway Patrol were called to the scene of a wreck and altercation yesterday on Ivydell Road in Fountain.

FHP arrived first and encountered House, who was intoxicated and had driven his vehicle into a ditch.  House was found sitting next to his GMC Canyon pickup, holding a 3-year-old child and arguing with neighbors that had responded to offer him assistance, according to the FHP report.

House was belligerent and resistant to the trooper that arrived at the scene at 5:40 p.m. after 911 callers reported seeing a man “throwing a toddler around” in the road.

FHP Trooper C. Guster saw blood on both the man and the child and approached them to assess their injuries.  After the trooper assured him that EMS was on the way, House told the trooper he was a Bay County Deputy.

When the trooper tried to take the child, House moved onto his knees and grabbed the trooper’s left arm.  The trooper warned House he would use his taser if he became combative.  House replied that he’d had a taser used on him before.

When Guster made a second attempt to take the child, House grabbed the trooper again.  The trooper deployed his taster to House’s back and a bystander quickly pulled the child to safety.

House was given first aid, restrained and then checked medically by EMS.  He was taken to Bay Medical and following treatment, was released and transported to the Bay County Jail.

The deputy was charged with driving under the influence in a crash, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and failure to register a motor vehicle.

“I am very disappointed at the conduct of Steven House,” Sheriff Ford said. “He was arrested and will be treated the same as anyone else exhibiting the same behavior.”

Sheriff Ford placed House on suspension without pay preceding termination.