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Cop convicted of DWI After Wreck

HICKORY, N.C. — Hickory Police Department Investigator Robert Falowski was convicted Thursday of driving while impaired.

“I believe police officers are held to a higher standard than other people,” said District Court Judge Deborah Brown of Iredell County during the sentencing. “You are expected not to go home after an accident and have a beer to claim you got drunk after the accident.”

Falowski was given a 60-day suspended sentence, 12 months of unsupervised probation and ordered to complete 24 hours of community service. Falowski also was ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs including a $600 SBI lab fee for the alcohol blood test that recorded his blood alcohol level at .11. The legal limit is .08.

As he left the courtroom following the decision, Falowski said his attorney, Gene Sigmon, had already filed an appeal in the case.

Sigmon said he was surprised by the court’s decision and expects the Superior Court to overturn the verdict.

After Falowski was charged with DWI in early December, the Hickory Police Department placed Falowski on administrative duty pending the outcome of the department’s internal investigation and the court’s decision in the case.

“After the verdict today (Thursday), the HPD will finalize the administrative investigation regarding this matter and follow the city of Hickory’s personnel policy to address the incident,” said Hickory Police Chief Tom Adkins. “I consider all of the information from the court proceedings today and the statements previously taken during this investigation.”