Douglas County deputy pleads guilty after police initially didn't charge her with DUI

A Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputy resigned and pleaded guilty to a drunk driving charge this month after Greenwood Village police officers initially failed to cite her for DUI, in what their chief indicates was a mistake due to "inexperience."

A Greenwood Village Police Department review of the case led to a DUI charge later being lodged against Mackenzie Young, 25, within days of the initial incident.

According to Greenwood Village police records and officer's body cam videos reviewed by CBS News Colorado, Young, who was off-duty at the time, had been drinking with a friend at Pindustry, 7939 East Arapahoe Road, on the night of Sept. 27, 2022.

After leaving the bar at about 10:30 p.m., Young ended up driving her Jeep the wrong way on East Arapahoe Road before crashing into another car at an intersection. Young's Jeep rolled over and Greenwood Village police and medical help arrived on the scene.

With Young's Jeep on its side, the female passenger is heard on police body cam video saying, "Please let us out... I'm scared." A Greenwood Village police officer can be seen pulling both the passenger and Young from the car.

Officers recovered Young's wallet from the Jeep and found her Douglas County Sheriff's Office identification and soon learned she worked there. 

"Come on, we should know better than that, of all people," says one of the Greenwood officers. Another officer is overheard saying, "She's the at-fault driver on the wrong side of the damn road so she caused the accident... could have killed somebody."

And although officers had suspicions about Young possibly being DUI, she was not cited for drunk driving that night. 

"I thought I smelled alcohol on (the passenger)," says one police officer. He asks the passenger about Young, "How much did she have to drink?"

An officer is heard commenting, "I don't know if she (Young) is injured or just drunk."

Young was transported to a nearby hospital but no DUI charges were pursued that night.

The rookie officer who was sent to the hospital said, "As I was standing over Mackenzie, I did not smell any alcohol. Based on everything I did not feel like I had enough to charge Mackenzie with driving under the influence," wrote the officer. "Mackenzie stating she was a deputy did not influence my decision at all."

Greenwood Village Police Chief Dustin Varney said the officer who went to the hospital was inexperienced, has only been with his department for about a year and a half, and had only been involved in one DUI case before. 

"I think she was shy, a little bit intimidated," said Varney.

Varney said a sergeant on the accident scene should have been more involved in pressing for more investigation into a possible DUI. 

That didn't happen and Young was charged with reckless driving, driving on the wrong side of the road, no insurance, and expired plates- traffic charges.

"We overlooked opportunities to do a thorough investigation," said Varney. "No question we could have done better that night."

Young went back to work for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office since she had only been charged with traffic infractions. But Varney said his department conducted a review of the case and ranking officers quickly determined the off-duty deputy had likely been driving drunk.

They obtained written reports from firefighters who treated and transported Young. Those firefighters wrote that Young was "acutely intoxicated," smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech. 

Police subpoenaed Young's medical records from the hospital which showed her blood alcohol measured .269 the night of the accident- more than three times the legal limit for drunk driving in Colorado. Additionally, further investigation turned up surveillance videos from Pindustry which showed Young leaving and walking through the parking lot "unsteady on her feet," according to a police investigator who also wrote "she appears to lose her balance and falls into the rear driver's side door of the vehicle."

The investigating officer wrote, "Based on the review of all the reports, bodyworn cameras, and video from Pindustry, along with Young's BAC, I have found that Young was driving under the influence of alcohol on the evening of this incident."

Two weeks after the wreck, Greenwood Village police changed the citation for Young to DUI, along with the other traffic charges. A spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff said that led to Young resigning as a deputy, although she was given another job as a  Douglas County dispatcher.

Cocha Heyden, a public information officer for the Douglas County sheriff, said, "She served as a dispatcher before becoming commissioned deputy and all the information we had indicated that she was a very good dispatcher. She made a mistake and has to live with that mistake, but we made the decision to keep her in a dispatcher position."

Young has not responded to a text message inquiry from CBS News Colorado.

Court records show she pleaded guilty on Feb. 3 to a lesser charge, driving while ability impaired, and was sentenced to 12 months probation and 24 hours of community service. Prosecutors dismissed all other traffic charges.

Varney told CBS News Colorado while none of his officers were disciplined, they have since been coached on how to deal with similar situations. 

"This will not happen again, this was all avoidable," said Varney.