Claire B. Lang interviews Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Claire B. Lang is the host of "Dialed In", which airs Monday through Friday from 4pm-7pm ET on XM Satellite Radio's 24-hour NASCAR Radio Channel 144. On Monday, Claire spoke with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio about the Kurt Busch traffic violation outside Phoenix International Raceway on Friday.

Claire: Let's welcome the Sheriff of Maricopa County, from Phoenix, on the line, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Sheriff, thanks for coming on live, and I'm glad that you could make the time to come on here today. Could you discuss what exactly transpired in your county with NASCAR driver Kurt Busch to the best of your knowledge at this point?

Sheriff Arpaio: Well he was stopped by my deputies for alcohol on his breath, he went through a stop sign, he was speeding, went on the wrong side of the street... my deputies brought him down to the command center, at the PIR. He took a preliminary alcohol breath test, and there wasn't any evidence to charge him with DUI. He came up .017. That's well within the limit, so we did not charge him with DUI, we did charge him with reckless driving.

Claire B. Lang

Claire: Hmm ... well, explain one thing: Tell me about the command center where you took him and the decision to take him there. Because the fans who are listening don't really understand how that happens with you all at a race track. What is there at the track, where did you take him, and why the choice to take him there? How does that work?

Sheriff Arpaio: Well, we do security. My off-duty detectives do security at the race track, so naturally we have our large command center there, to coordinate our activities, and that's why he was brought there. The offense took place about two miles from the track. The deputy made the decision to cite him only for reckless driving, which is a criminal misdemeanor. We did take his prints because last week I ordered all deputies to take prints of anybody charged or cited for reckless driving. So we have his prints now on file.

Claire: Was he rude to your deputies? Is there a police report with all this on it?

Sheriff Arpaio: Sure, well, it's not finished yet. My deputies will be making a report, should be done today or tomorrow. But let me say this, I don't appreciate anyone, doesn't matter who that person is, making derogatory remarks. Calling my deputies wimps, and mentioning that I'm not taking this ... dash-dash-dash ... alcohol test. So, I don't like that, but you know, this is law enforcement, some people do make derogatory remarks.

But that's not why he got the ticket. He got the ticket because he was reckless driving. He was speeding. He almost plowed into a car that was stopped at a stop sign, and he swerved and went onto the other side of the street there, and he went through the stop sign, and another deputy sheriff's car did stop him further on, on the street. And he did stop, he wasn't very cooperative ... He refused to take the test. So we brought him down to the command center, and took some action there.

Claire: Did your deputy know who he was at the time?

Sheriff Arpaio: No. Well, he said, do you know who I am? And he showed a NASCAR driver's permit, and also his North Carolina driver's license. So he said do you know who I am, and I'm Kurt Busch. So my deputies didn't worry about that; they did their job. We think he had a beer, or one drink, which many people do. And that doesn't mean they're drunk...

Claire: Right, right... all that I want to make sure is clear... I didn't realize that he had a breathalyzer that was clear. Y'know what I'm saying? All I heard was that the equipment was broken, and they couldn't give him another test. So the smelling of the alcohol is only a cause if you find something else later.

Sheriff Arpaio: Well we did give him a test, a preliminary test where you blow into this little gadget. And as I say once again, that only came out .017, which isn't even .02. And you have to be .08 to be charged with DUI -- he was well under the limit. So if you don't have the probable cause, why should we put him under the blood test? Now these are decisions made by my deputies.

I'm not gonna criticize my deputies. They made a decision, they were right, I back them up, and they did cite this guy. I'm getting all the heat for not giving this guy, locking him up. I presume if I did lock him up, I'd get heat for locking him up. But we did a professional job, I stand by my deputies, he was not charged with DUI because we don't go around charging people if they're not guilty.

Claire: There were also people on the airplane that I was on today that said if he would have shut his mouth and been more courteous, it probably would have gone better for him, and that that probably was the worst of it.

Sheriff Arpaio: No, I don't think so. Because we had the evidence. We don't take different action because someone doesn't like our deputies. We had the evidence about him speeding 15 miles over the limit, going through a stop sign, swerving ... we have that evidence. So you gotta go by the facts. However, personally, I don't like his conduct with my deputies. But that doesn't change the facts.

We didn't charge him with swearing or saying anything to our deputies. I'll tell you one thing, under my new policy, he could've gone to jail. If he didn't get the prints, he would have been in jail. Anybody who doesn't give up their prints on a criminal traffic violation goes directly to jail. So he would have been in jail, if he did not give his prints at the command post.

Claire: Sheriff, did he willingly give his prints?

Sheriff Arpaio: Well if he didn't give his prints, he's going to jail. But the prints are there to show that he will appear in court, along with his signature. But I have the right to bring everybody to jail, that violates a criminal, not a civil, a criminal traffic violation. We could, if we want, bring everybody to jail, and print them at the jail. We do this as a courtesy for everybody, normally, to take the print at the scene and give them a ticket with their promise to show up for court.

But under the law, we can take people that violate the criminal traffic violation because it is a misdemeanor. I'm gonna meet with Mr. Penske, I guess it is, today. And he's coming to my office, but I'm not going to get involved in this case right now, on public service, until the court case has been disposed of. Then we can talk later on after that. But it's not ethical or right for me to start talking to Busch when he's facing court.

Claire: And can you talk a little bit about the court date, and what will happen there? Will you're your deputy be there? What will happen, and the court date I believe is Dec. 22.

Sheriff Arpaio: Well just like any case, traffic violation it goes to court, and I'm sure my deputy will be there, and we'll see what happens in court.

Claire: I appreciate you taking my call today, because I wanted to talk to you, and I wanted to ask you the tough questions. I know sometimes people will say that NASCAR made something to happen, you know, is there any, could you just talk about that part of it?

Sheriff Arpaio: They didn't make anything to happen, my guys arrested this guy, took him to the command center, went through the proper procedures and gave him a ticket. I mean, we didn't let him go -- I don't understand this. We didn't give him a pass. And why are we going to charge this guy for a DUI if he doesn't fit the criteria? I don't care who the person is.

In fact, since I'm a publicity hound, I presume if I did charge him, I would be making the news on Mars. So I'm called the publicity hound, so if I was a publicity hound, I would have loved, probably, to charge this guy and get more publicity. That's garbage. But that's what some people say. But I don't understand why everybody is criticizing my organization for ... He wasn't drunk driving, so why would I pursue that?

Claire: If he fought off the test, where did he pass the test, the initial one?

Sheriff Arpaio: At the command center.

Claire: I see, I see.

Sheriff Arpaio: You take a sobriety test. He refused to take the sobriety test. You know, you pull the guy out, make him walk...

Claire: Oh, and he touches his nose, uh-huh...

Sheriff Arpaio: Yeah, he refused that. He was resisting. So we took him down to the command center.

Claire: And then he blew into the deal at the command center.

Sheriff Arpaio: Yeah I believe it was at the command center. We have nothing to hide. This is no conspiracy. And another thing, we do the security there, off-duty, we've been doing it for years and years and years. So I can understand that there's a conspiracy that we gave this guy a break. And what confuses me is NASCAR, what do you have, millions of fans? Which way would they vote?

Would they say, we're happy, sure, if you did give the guy a break, then he could drive in the race, right? So, I'm a hero, which way am I a hero? If you wanna get into public relations. But I don't care, I'm gonna do my job. But I'm a little concerned about this Catch 22 that I seem to be in here. If I did arrest him, how awful the sheriff arrested him, now he can't, and he took him to jail, and this guy can't race tomorrow or two days from now.

You don't charge him because there's no evidence; and I'm a bad guy for that, for not charging him. If the guy violates the law he's treated like everybody else. I'm very adamant on that, I can prove in my 13-year history that I do that, that's why a lot of people don't like me. And it kinds of hurts me a little, I just hope I didn't give a bad name, or my deputies did not give a bad name to NASCAR because they're not guilty of anything, the spectators.

On the other hand, we have a job to do, I back up my deputies, we did it, and if people don't like the sheriff because of that, so be it. That's the way it goes, that's the way the ball bounces.

Claire: And if it was true, because the story I heard was that he probably did just have a beer or something, then he could have just said, "I don't want to stand out here on the road, can I go and take a test somewhere?" I mean...

Sheriff Arpaio: Yeah, but also you forget that he violated a law. There's three traffic violations there. Everybody forgets that.

Claire: The three traffic violations are...

Sheriff Arpaio: One was going 15 miles over the limit. The other one was blowing a stop sign. The other one was swerving into another lane. And the fourth one was reckless driving. When you put all that together, it's a criminal offense.

Claire: What kind of charge could he get for reckless driving?

Sheriff Arpaio: Well, I don't know, it's a misdemeanor, I guess he could go to jail for a year or up to six months ... I don't know what the judge wants to give him. But that needs to be something the courts will decide.

Courtesy of XM Satellite Radio