4:16 p.m. | 
A Santa Maria-based California Highway Patrol officer is facing a charge of driving under the influence of drugs after being arrested by Arroyo Grande police.
Michael Shane Mallory, 37, who has been acting as public information officer for the CHP’s office in Santa Maria, reportedly crashed his vehicle into two parked cars at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday in Arroyo Grande.
Officers were dispatched to the scene of the collision, and contacted Mallory, who was showing signs of impairment, according to Arroyo Grande police Cmdr. Beau Pryor.
Field sobriety tests were conducted and officers were able to determine that alcohol was not causing the impairment.
“We suspect at this point that it’s drugs, which is why we got a blood draw and sent it off to the lab,” Pryor said.
Investigators don’t know at this point whether it’s prescription drugs or illegal narcotics, Pryor said, but the lab results will be sent to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.
Mallory was treated the same way as everyone else, and arrested and booked into jail for a misdemeanor DUI charge, Pryor said.
The department doesn’t put out news releases for DUI arrests and didn’t do one for Mallory, either, he added.
Mallory has not been placed on any kind of administrative time off, CHP Lt. Alex Carrillo said Friday afternoon.
“As a department, when there’s any kind of allegation of misconduct, we will do an administrative inquiry,” he said. “As of now, we don’t have anything on the criminal investigation because another agency is doing that, the City of Arroyo Grande.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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