The Sacramento State Police Department offers students the chance to participate in a ride-along to experience a night on patrol with an officer.

What the police department cannot stress enough is the unpredictable nature a night on patrol holds: No ride-along is likely to be the same as the next.

My particular Friday night on March 13 with Police Sergeant Vincent Burton gave the impression of an inevitably slow night with three officers- including Burton- responding to an alarm sounding off at the Academic Information Resource Center. Sure enough, as the night progressed, a stop at Stingers Sports Pub changed the focus of this Friday night.

A bouncer approached Burton, informing him of a man he described as “plastered” sitting in a green Dodger truck. The man was said to have acted aggressive and refused an offer to be taken home.

He was a drunk driver. How much he had was the question, but watching his shaky driving suggested past the normal limit.

He turned on Hornet Drive toward the freeway. Burton sped to catch up with the man after he made an abrupt acceleration, the silence of small talk and radio conversation muffled by the sound of the engine revving.

Burton noticed the man did not signal when he made turns before he got on the freeway. While on the freeway and then exiting the freeway onto 65th, Burton also said the driver was straddling lanes. The second police car trailing requested the driver pull over on 65th by Target, but he did not stop until we reached the Starbucks on 65th and Broadway.

“Taking a long time to stop, you see?” Burton said. “We put the lights on way back there. By law, he’s supposed to pull over; he hasn’t pulled over. Not sure where he’s going but he’s taking a little while to pull over.”

Before hearing about the drunk driver at Stingers, a vehicle was found linked with a murder of a transient whose body was found under the Howe Avenue bridge by La Riviera Drive.

It was a black Mercedes-Benz parked outside the Rivercrest Apartments on La Riviera. The windows were broken, windshield smashed, front bumper and hood dented in as if it were crashed into and parts of the interior missing.

“Wow, somebody [expletive] this thing up good,” Burton said.

This ravaged vehicle appeared to be the talking point of the night for us until Burton emphasized the severity of a drunk driver within the vicinity of Sac State.

“Students are here all the time, aren’t they?” said Burton. “They live around here, they go to all these places and this guy’s driving. He’s driving a vehicle down College Town, down La Riviera, down right around the university, even the freeway. Just think about all the lives he endangered during that time.”

Burton’s prediction of the man’s blood alcohol content level was “way above .25.”

Sac State Police Officer Nathan Rice began questioning the man, asking him to step outside the car. Complying with Rice’s request, he made his way to the police car with an unsteady stride. A routine records check found he had a history of domestic violence and refusal to comply with a peace officer.

Brett Rubsam, a self-employed roofing contractor, hobbled while attempting to walk a straight line. Rice informed Rubsam of the coming inebriation tests but deemed him unable to perform them after flashing lights on his eyes to measure dilation, causing him to laugh and flinch backwards.

“He is unable to do the test because the fact that he’s not in a state where he can follow directions,” said Rice. “He’s not in state where he can maintain his own balance. If I continued the tests, it would be unsafe for him.”

The results of Rubsam’s BAC level measured at .27, three times past the legal limit for drinking of .08. He was cuffed and taken into custody at the Sac State Police Department.

“Let’s face it,” said Burton. “This is bad. We’re not talking about a guy that just had a glass of wine or just had a beer. We’re talking about a guy that basically overindulged, did it on his own accord. Nobody held his mouth, plugged his mouth and poured it down his throat, then chose to get in the vehicle even after somebody offered to drive him.”

Earlier into the patrol, before finding the damaged car and encountering Rubsam at Stingers, Burton spoke about his experiences being an officer in Los Angeles for more than 20 years compared to being an officer in Sacramento while driving around the residential hall area.

He said driving past certain streets during one time of day could elicit warm welcomes from people walking by, but other times could result in a different type of warm welcome: Local gangs become territorial and attack anyone close to their area.

“Their respect for human life is minimal,” Burton said. “They [gang members] can hurt or kill you without missing a wink of sleep and show up to church the next day.”

Burton said gang involvement is present in Sacramento but not as much as in Los Angeles.

It was a relief that a drunk driver was the highlight of the ride-along that lasted from 8 p.m. to almost midnight.

We arrived back to the police station on campus to see Rice questioning Rubsam, who was handcuffed and sitting on a bench – not sober, but compliant. He repeatedly insisted Rice come home with him to talk to his girlfriend.

“She’s a woman, brother,” Rubsam said. “She’s a woman. She’s gonna be so mad. You have no [expletive] idea.”

Rubsam had just gotten off his probation from a DUI he was charged with four years ago. Had he been caught while on probation, he would have received a sanction along with a new DUI charge. He asked Rice to not label him with the other “bad guys” he arrests on a regular basis.

“I’m putting you in with the other drunks,” Rice said. “Keeping people safe is what I do. I love my job.”

Even on a slow night, a peek of an average, or not so average, night on patrol for a Sac State police officer could prove to be a story to tell your friends.