Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell is giving one of his former investigators time to recover from injuries before booking him into jail on a DUI charge.
The Georgia State Patrol arrested and charged Chance Oxner on June 28 with DUI less safe after he wrecked his county-issued patrol vehicle on Camp Creek Road. GSP Post 7 Commander Donnie Sadler said at the time that Oxner would be booked into jail when he was released from the hospital.
Oxner was released from Northeast Georgia Medical Center last week, according to the sheriff’s office.
“The Sheriff is allowing him to heal enough to actually be booked in,” says Lt. Matthew Wurtz. “This is not uncommon for him to allow after a serious accident with injuries and several major surgeries.”
On the night of the accident, Oxner reportedly told the investigating trooper that he took Ambien and drank wine before driving. According to Sadler, Oxner blew a .052 “with a partial blow of air” on the alcosensor test the trooper administered at the hospital. Based on the timeline provided by the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, that was more than three hours after the accident. Oxner refused to consent to the trooper’s request for a blood-alcohol test, Sadler said.
According to the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office, the wreck happened at 10 p.m. the night of June 28. The Georgia State Patrol and EMS were dispatched to the scene at 11:22 p.m. Asked about the timelines, Lt. Wurtz says he not sure why there is such a large time span.
“I know that GSP was requested as soon as possible, as with any crash with injuries. I do know that Chance was unable to get to his in-car radio due to the damage from the wreck, so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it.”
Oxner was not on duty when he wrecked, according to the sheriff’s office.
The day after the accident, the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office announced that an internal investigation determined Oxner had violated several of the department’s policies. He was fired the same day after nearly 22 years on the job.
Oxner’s arrest the morning after the wreck was his second within a year. The 52-year-old now-former investigator was arrested and jailed last July after an altercation with his son. They were both charged with battery.
