ANDERSON, Ind.­ — Records released Wednesday in the case of a 30-year police officer terminated by the Pendleton safety board allege that he let an impaired driver go free after a traffic stop.

Pendleton Police Chief Marc Farrer informed the town safety board last month that he had suspended patrolman Mike Moore after a random quality review of police cruiser video by Capt. Randy Sidwell.

The video shows Moore pulling over a driver and giving him field sobriety tests. Sidwell said in the complaint that the driver “clearly failed” those tests.

Farrer told the board that Moore’s actions “placed the town in a situation where the safety for the citizenry of the town was jeopardized.”

The video, which was provided earlier in private to safety board members, shows a man in his 20s who is unsteady on his feet, has difficulty walking a straight line, staggers and at times supports himself on his car.

A breath test showed he had not been drinking, but subsequent investigation determined he had been abusing prescription painkillers, according to the information provided to the safety board.

The Herald Bulletin is not publishing the driver’s name because no charges were filed against him. The records were provided after The Herald Bulletin filed two Freedom of Information Act requests for them.

Today the safety board meets again for a hearing requested by Moore after the board moved to terminate him on Feb. 25. Moore has said that he retired, but he did not appear at his disciplinary hearing, and the complaint against him was not disclosed to the public when the board moved to fire him.

Moore has retained Indianapolis attorney Elizabeth Bemis, who says Moore retired. Bemis did not return a message seeking comment on Wednesday.

Here is an approximate chronology of events according to the complaint, based on Madison County 911 dispatch logs:

10:54 p.m.: Driver calls 911 in reference to a possible drunken driver on Interstate 69 northbound near the 12 mile marker.

10:57 p.m.: Second caller reports same possible drunken driver near the 16 mile marker.

11:10 p.m.: Moore stops the vehicle on High Street and begins field sobriety tests.

11:35 p.m.: Moore tells dispatchers the subject checks OK.

The video shows Moore handcuffing the driver and placing him in the back of his patrol car. Shortly after that, Sidwell said, Moore turned off the ignition, which also cut off the video camera. But the driver was never charged, Sidwell said.

“Since no arrest was made, no report was written, and Moore chose not to elaborate any information to dispatch, we did not know what happened to (the driver),” according to the complaint initiated by Sidwell.

The traffic stop took place on a Saturday night, Nov. 21, 2009. The video was not discovered until Feb. 10, which prompted Farrer and Sidwell to interview the driver, his parents and his girlfriend.

The complaint alleges based on the interviews that Moore allowed the driver to get back in his car and drive to his girlfriend’s house in Pendleton.

The driver’s girlfriend gave police a statement saying that Moore followed the driver home. The girlfriend said that the driver “told me he had been taking DMX (cough medicine) and pills that night,” according to the complaint.

“He stayed for a few hours and drove home (to Fortville) later that night and to the best of my knowledge he was still messed up from earlier,” the statement said.

The driver’s mother told Farrer that the driver had suffered a back injury, and that at the time of his traffic stop he was addicted to and abusing prescription painkillers. The mother told police the driver had battled his addiction and no longer uses the painkillers.

Sidwell said that Moore violated department policy because anyone suspected of driving while under the influence of drugs is to be taken to a hospital for blood tests.

When Farrer interviewed the driver some 10 weeks after he was stopped, he was told nothing would be used against him.

The driver, according to Farrer’s complaint, “stated he did not remember ever getting put in the car.” Farrer said the driver agreed when told his actions the night of the traffic stop should have resulted in him going to jail.

On Feb. 18, Farrer filed his complaint with the safety board, asking for Moore’s termination and citing a history of discipline issues. A week later, the board approved his request and moved to terminate Moore, though it preserved his retirement and benefits.

At issue, Farrer said, is whether Moore will be allowed to retire in good standing with the department, and whether in the future officers would be able to avoid discipline by retiring.

Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com