--- description: Cop was set to recieve award for making over 100 DUI arrests title: Florida Cop Suspended for Showing Up Drunk to Mothers Against Drunk Driving Banquet image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Florida Cop Suspended for Showing Up Drunk to Mothers Against Drunk Driving Banquet by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 10, 2015 8:33 PM CUT by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 10, 2015 8:33 PM CUT A sheriff’s deputy in Florida has been suspended after [showing up drunk](http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/detective-suspended-for-showing-up-drunk-to-madd-awards-ceremony "undefined") for a Mothers Against Drunk Driving banquet. When Michael Szeliga, a Penlas County deputy, turned up to a Friday night banquet to collect his award for making more than 100 DUI arrests, he was confronted by a local police chief for being intoxicated, according to WFTS, a Tampa Bay ABC affiliate. “I thought, ‘Hmm, probably not the right place to be intoxicated,” Chief Robert Vincent told WFTS. “I asked if he would tell me his name, and he said he wasn’t going to tell me his name and I said well you probably don’t want to be at a MADD awards banquet while you are intoxicated. He didn’t take my advice — he kind of just walked away, so I reported that to his supervisor.” A 274-page report concludes an internal affairs investigation into the incident, [_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/10/florida-cop-turned-up-drunk-collect-mothers-against-drunk-driving-award/75507038/ "undefined")reports. Szeliga drove to a hotel in Fort Lauderdale for two days of expenses-paid training on handling drunk drivers, with a bottle of Jameson Irish Whisky in his squad car and spent his time drinking, rather than attending seminars. He has since received a one day suspension and asked to write a letter of apology to Chief Vincent. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4106721/wasted-cop-madd/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4106721/wasted-cop-madd/"},"headline":"Florida Cop Suspended for Showing Up Drunk to Mothers Against Drunk Driving Banquet","datePublished":"2015-11-10T20:33:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:29:25.597Z","description":"Cop was set to recieve award for making over 100 DUI arrests","url":"https://time.com/4106721/wasted-cop-madd/","keywords":["Crime","police","Florida"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4106721/wasted-cop-madd/","name":"Florida Cop Suspended for Showing Up Drunk to Mothers Against Drunk Driving Banquet"}}]}] ```