Charlotte Cop Arrested For DWI Now On Unpaid Leave: CMPD

CHARLOTTE, NC — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officer is on unpaid leave and under internal investigation following his arrest for driving while impaired over the weekend in western North Carolina.

CMPD officer Tyler Kishpaugh, who has worked for CMPD for nearly 17 years, was arrested Saturday, June 16 and charged by North Carolina State Highway Patrol with DWI in Banner Elk, North Carolina. He was off duty and driving his own vehicle at the time of the arrest, according to officials.

Banner Elk is about 120 miles northwest of Charlotte.

According to CMPD, Kishpaugh, who is currently assigned with the Steele Creek Division, has been employed by the department since July 2001.

SEE ALSO: Charlotte Officer Arrested For Shoplifting Faces 42 New Charges

Upon learning of the arrest, CMPD immediately began an internal investigation, it said in a statement Monday.

“I am disappointed that a member of our department has fallen short of our organization’s high standards,” said CMPD Chief Kerr Putney in a statement. “I expect the men and women of this department will be held accountable when they violate the law no matter where it occurs.”

News of the arrest comes less than a week after CMPD said it had charging another one of its own with a laundry list of shoplifting charges.

Last month, CMPD patrol officer Samuel Yaravitz was identified as the suspect in the seven shoplifting cases that spanned from Feb. 13 and May 9, but by June 13, the number of charges had ballooned to total 49 counts of misdemeanor larceny from shoplifting from five different branches of Harris Teeter grocery stores in Charlotte.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

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