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ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — A St. Joseph County police officer has been arrested and suspended from duty after crashing his police car Sunday night.

Officer Coty Hoffman was driving his police car off-duty when he hit someone’s mailbox.  He then called a supervisor to report the incident, who thought Hoffman’s speech sounded slow.

Hoffman was arrested for Operating While Intoxicated but was released from the St. Joseph County Jail a few hours later.  He has been put on administrative suspension while police investigate.

Now, the St. Joseph County Police Department has provided more information about the patrolman.  Notably, he was already on professional probation at the time of the crash.

In July of this year, he faced consequences for his off-duty alcohol consumption.  At that time, he was suspended without pay for a few days, required to get alcohol counseling, and placed on probation for six months.

In December of 2020, he was suspended without pay for one day for not filing required reports two times.

The St. Joseph County Police Department released this statement Monday, which offers more insight into previous investigations of Hoffman:

In May of this year, photographs of Hoffman in a state of undress & unconsciousness were provided to the department along with allegations of alcohol use while in uniform and on-duty.  After the completion of an Internal Investigation and interviewing multiple witnesses, IA was unable to find sufficient proof to sustain those allegations.  However, it was determined that Hoffman had violated department policy regarding excessive intoxication & impairment while off-duty and was in violation of policy for conduct unbecoming an officer.  As a result of these violations, on July 25, 2022, Hoffman was suspended without pay for 3 days, ordered to alcohol counseling, and placed on probation for six months.