Fire Chief In El Dorado County Resigns After Arrest On Suspicion Of DUI

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) – A local fire chief who was arrested for DUI on last week has resigned.

Deputies arrested an El Dorado County fire chief last week after an incident involving his neighbor.

Around 1:50 p.m. on Friday, El Dorado County sheriff's deputies were called out to investigate a reported dispute between neighbors in the town of Greenwood. The person who called 911 said their neighbor, Garden Valley fire chief William Dekker, threatened to shoot him over a loose dog, according to an El Dorado County Sheriff's Department statement.

SEE ALSO: Garden Valley Fire Chief Under Investigation

As deputies were driving up to Dekker's home to talk with him, he was approaching deputies in his vehicle and they flagged him down. During the course of their conversation with Dekker, deputies say they suspected he might have been drinking. After some field sobriety tests, deputies arrested Dekker for suspicion of driving under the influence and booked him into the El Dorado County Jail.

He was later released on $5,000 bond.

Garden Valley Fire Protection District Chairman Ed Hawkins confirmed this development to CBS13. He says Dekker's replacement, Linda Szczepanik, has been named and has already begun working in her new position. She served previously as a volunteer with the rank of assistant chief.

This isn't Dekker's first DUI arrest. While working as a fire chief in Nevada, Dekker "admitted drinking and hitting (a) victim with fire truck while driving", according to the arrest report from the Lyon County Sheriff's Office.

Dekker was charged with driving under the influence, paid a $750 fine and completed a DUI workshop, according to court documents. Court records also show Dekker pled no contest to disorderly conduct charges in Arizona, resulting in his resignation as fire chief there, according to newspaper reports.