Dearborn fire chief sentenced for drunken driving incident
Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray was sentenced this week to one year of probation for drunken driving.
The sentence for Murray, 44, handed down by Dearborn Heights District Judge Mark Plawecki, also includes: 20 hours of community service directed by the city of Dearborn; inpatient rehabilitation; outpatient counseling; one random alcohol and drug screening once a week, and one Alcohol Anonymous meeting a week.
Murray was arrested Aug. 29 in Dearborn Heights at 2:44 a.m. after being pulled over. He told officers he had been drinking at a bar in Taylor, saying he had four to five beers, according to police.
He was then placed on administrative leave by Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud. On Oct. 30, Hammoud reinstated Murray as fire chief, saying at the time that he didn’t want to “evaluate an individual in their darkest moments,” noting that Murray had a “two-decades-long career in public service.”
A couple of days later, Murray was charged by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy with two charges: operating a motor vehicle with a high blood alcohol content and operating while intoxicated. Murray pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to one count of operating while intoxicated. The other charge was dismissed.
“His decision to plead to the charge and to accept the punishment speaks volumes of his integrity,” Murray’s attorney, Ed Zelenak, city attorney for Lincoln Park and Southgate, told the Free Press on Friday.
Murray has been with Dearborn’s fire department since 2004. In 2012, he was named fire chief by then-Mayor John O’Reilly Jr. He is also president of the Southeastern Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs.
nwarikoo@freepress.com