FLAT ROCK, Mich. (WXYZ) — A Flat Rock police sergeant who arrived to a crime scene vomiting and smelling of alcohol was terminated earlier this month, a source confirms.
Brian Tetreau had been demoted following a 7 Action News investigation in August revealing that he arrived intoxicated to an active shooting scene in February.
Tetreau was not breathalyzed, arrested or charged. He served a week-long suspension for his misconduct.
The chief who suspended Tetreau, Jerry Page, announced his retirement after 7 Action News began investigating the sergeant’s misconduct.
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He was replaced by Steve McInchak on an interim basis. In September, McInchak suspended Tetreau for the second time after he violated the department’s social media policy, posting “F--- WXYZ” in response to a Facebook post linking to a station news story.
Tetreau’s second suspension lasted 14 days. McInchak demoted him from sergeant to officer, took away his K-9 and gave him a “last chance agreement,” which Tetreau apparently violated.
He was terminated on November 2. McInchak declined to say why.
Messages left for Tetreau on his cell phone seeking comment were not returned.
Tetreau’s misconduct made international headlines after he was seen on police body cam video obtained by 7 Action News responding to an active crime scene following a shooting.
At the time he pulled up, the alleged shooter was still missing.
As one officer brings the sergeant up to speed, Tetreau can be seen adjusting his shoes.
In the middle of February, with temperatures in the 20s, Tetreau arrived to the crime scene wearing Crocs.
“Didn’t realize I was wearing Crocs until I left the house,” he is heard saying.
Quickly, the sergeant and his K-9 begin the search for suspects, first along the tree line and then deeper into the subdivision.
Minutes later, Tetreau focuses his attention inside a crawl space under one of the homes.
“Anyone inside of this building, you’re gonna get bit!” Tetreau shouted while releasing his police dog.
Seconds later, the sergeant pulled out his firearm and aimed it into the crawl space, but no one was inside.
Tetreau can then be seen struggling to put his gun back in its holster.
An internal police investigation would later say Tetreau “had the odor of intoxicants” on his breath, that he “reported for duty under the influence,” and “appeared...intoxicated.”
He admitted to consuming alcohol earlier in the afternoon.
Initially, Flat Rock officials refused to reveal the investigation at all, denying WXYZ’s public records request.
But when the station appealed to Flat Rock’s mayor, his office turned over a redacted copy of the probe, with entire sections blacked out.
That included an e-mail sent to the city’s mayor and police chief by a resident who’d witnessed Tetreau’s behavior.
The city blacked out part of the e-mail, but 7 Action News obtained an unredacted copy revealing that the woman said Tetreau “vomited twice before stumbling after another officer,” adding that he “looked like he was drunk.”
That moment appears to be caught on body camera, though the city blurred the video, claiming it was exempt from disclosure.
A suspect would later be apprehended. No one was hurt as a result of the sergeant’s conduct.
In a memo, then-Flat Rock Police Chief Jerry Page called Tetreau’s behavior “the very definition of Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer,” adding that the “civil liabilities of your actions...put the City of Flat Rock...in a position I never want to be in.”
But even though Tetreau had the odor of alcohol on his breath, there is no record he was ever breathalyzed. In his investigation, Page wrote that "I do not have (an) alcohol reading on a PBT."
While it is a crime to drive a vehicle while intoxicated and to carry a firearm while under the influence, 7 Action News has learned no warrant was submitted to the Wayne County Prosecutor and Tetreau was never charged with a crime.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
