Two Oakland police officers were arrested last year for driving under the influence while on duty

The Oaklandside has learned that two OPD officers were arrested last year in separate incidents for drinking and driving on the job, according to court records.

The previously unreported arrests came to light recently when the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office filed charges.

Officer Nathaniel Walker was allegedly intoxicated while working an OPD patrol shift on June 30, 2023. Two California Highway Patrol officers were called to OPD headquarters in downtown Oakland and asked to conduct a DUI evaluation on Walker.

“I observed objective signs and symptoms of alcohol intoxication,” a CHP officer wrote in a report. Walker was arrested. He was charged with driving under the influence on June 21, 2024. The case is pending.

According to court records, the incident is not the first time Walker has been arrested for suspected driving under the influence. Three months before his arrest at OPD headquarters, on March 31, 2023 at 1:49 a.m., two CHP officers were monitoring traffic on the southbound side of I-880 when they spotted a white Jeep Grand Cherokee traveling at 97 mph was traveling per hour. They stopped the vehicle in San Leandro and, according to a police report, the driver, Walker, told them he was a police officer.

According to CHP officers, “Upon contact, Walker exhibited signs of alcohol intoxication, including red and watery eyes, his speech was slow and slurred, and the odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath and body.”

Walker told CHP officers that he “recently got off work and was driving home” and was speeding. CHP officers arrested Walker and he was charged by the district attorney. This case is also still pending.

Walker’s attorney, Don Nobles, did not respond to an interview request.

Oakland police confirmed that Walker was on patrol when he was arrested on the second DUI charge last June. He was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. “This is an ongoing personnel matter. OPD is unable to provide further details at this time,” a department spokesperson wrote in an email.

The second suspected drunk driving incident involved Officer Trevor Harley. On October 8, 2023, Harley was working a patrol shift at 3 a.m. when he pulled up next to two other OPD officers who were in another vehicle. The two officers “were watching [Harley] According to a police report, he had bloodshot, watery eyes, a staggering gait and a strong odor of alcohol when he spoke. Harley “admitted to drinking alcohol before driving,” an OPD officer wrote about Harley before arresting him.

Harley did not respond to an interview request for this story.

More OPD officers have recently been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, although most of them were off-duty.

In August, Officer Eduardo Arrizon was involved in a suspicious incident in which his truck was traveling erratically in East Oakland before crashing. A man got out and fled the scene on foot. Arrizon later called OPD and told them he had been the victim of a carjacking. In 2018, Arrizon was arrested while allegedly driving over 100 miles per hour while drunk.

Another unnamed OPD officer was placed on administrative leave in February after crashing his Tesla on I-80 in Fairfield.

OPD provides its officers with 24-hour wellness services to assist with mental health and substance abuse issues. “The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program provides culturally competent addiction-fighting services,” the city’s website states. “The Wellness Department has developed relationships with first responder treatment programs to provide the best care possible for our officers.”