Broader Investigation Reveals 419 Sober DUI Arrests Statewide in 2024 as Former Troopers Allege Internal Pressure Drives Wrongful Charges
BEDFORD COUNTY — A WSMV4 investigation revealed this week that 41 DUI arrests made by a single Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper in Bedford County have been dismissed, with 22 of those cases involving drivers who had no alcohol or drugs in their system or were within legal limits—a stunning finding that has renewed focus on systemic problems within THP’s DUI enforcement practices and raised urgent questions about accountability when law enforcement officers make demonstrably false arrests.
The dismissed cases all involved arrests made by former Trooper Asa Pearl between 2021 and 2024, according to records obtained from the Bedford County Clerk’s office through open records requests. A spreadsheet compiled by the Bedford County District Attorney’s office for WSMV4 Investigates shows the breakdown of the 41 dismissed cases: in eight cases, drivers had neither drugs nor alcohol in their system; in 14 others, blood alcohol levels were within legal limits and no drugs were found; and the remaining 19 cases were dropped for other reasons including Pearl being unavailable for court or unable to recall details of the arrests.
Pearl resigned from the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 2024 with no reason given. The dismissed DUI cases were not mentioned in his personnel file. Neither Pearl nor the Tennessee Highway Patrol responded to requests for comment about the dismissals.
Ron LaFlamme was among those arrested by Pearl for DUI, despite having no substances in his system. LaFlamme described his surprise when Pearl asked him to perform a sobriety test, characterizing the arrest as wrongful. LaFlamme said he never received an apology from Pearl or the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
David McKenzie, LaFlamme’s attorney, stated that word was spreading in Bedford County about Pearl’s DUI dismissal rate during the time his client’s case worked through the courts. McKenzie noted that LaFlamme’s case was not the only one where blood results came back negative for this particular trooper.
The pattern suggests systemic problems with what Pearl was doing on roadside, according to McKenzie, who emphasized that these wrongful arrests could happen to anyone. His warning that this could happen to anyone’s child, parent, or coworker resonates particularly as the scope of Tennessee’s sober DUI arrest problem becomes clearer.
The Bedford County cases represent the latest discovery in WSMV4’s ongoing investigation into what they’ve termed Tennessee’s “Sobering Problem.” Pearl is the latest trooper discovered who has arrested multiple sober drivers for DUI. New data released by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows 419 sober drivers were arrested for DUI in Tennessee in 2024—the highest single-year total since WSMV4 began tracking these numbers. The Tennessee Highway Patrol accounted for 180 of those arrests, more than any other agency in the state.
Since 2017, more than 2,500 Tennesseans have been arrested for DUI only to have blood tests later show no alcohol or drugs in their system, according to WSMV4’s analysis. This staggering figure represents thousands of individuals subjected to the financial, emotional, and legal consequences of wrongful arrest for impaired driving.
The geographic distribution of sober arrests within THP demonstrates that the problem extends beyond individual bad actors. The Knoxville region led with 41 sober arrests in 2024, followed by Nashville with 37. These numbers suggest systemic issues rather than isolated incidents confined to particular jurisdictions or officers.
Former troopers Ashley Smith and Adam Potts, both formerly with THP, told WSMV4 Investigates that intense internal pressure to make DUI arrests was contributing to wrongful charges. Recorded audio obtained from Chattanooga THP Captain Patrick Turner captured him telling officers to arrest every DUI that they can get their hands on. This directive, while potentially well-intentioned as an anti-drunk driving measure, appears to have created perverse incentives that led to aggressive enforcement crossing the line into wrongful arrests.
THP Colonel Matt Perry testified before state lawmakers in January 2026—his first public appearance addressing the investigation. Perry maintained there is no quota system and said the agency has not found cases where arrests were inappropriate. Perry told lawmakers that the agency had not identified any cases where they concluded someone probably shouldn’t have been arrested—a statement difficult to reconcile with the 180 sober DUI arrests made by THP officers in 2024 alone.
Tennessee State Senator Raumesh Akbari of Memphis weighed in on the controversy, emphasizing that Tennesseans deserve transparency and accountability in law enforcement. Akbari noted that when people begin to question whether arrests are made for any reason other than public safety, trust erodes—a particularly concerning dynamic given law enforcement’s dependence on public cooperation and confidence to function effectively.
The financial and personal costs of wrongful DUI arrests extend far beyond the immediate inconvenience of being pulled over and detained. Even when charges are eventually dropped, a DUI arrest triggers a cascade of costs that can take years to recover from financially and emotionally. The immediate expenses alone prove staggering: towing and impound fees typically run $200 to $500, bail can range from $500 to $2,500, and attorney fees for DUI defense average roughly $3,150 nationally, though complex cases can push well past $10,000.
Beyond direct financial costs, wrongful DUI arrests carry reputation damage, employment consequences for those whose jobs require clean driving records or public trust, stress and anxiety throughout the legal process, and time lost attending court hearings and dealing with administrative processes. For individuals living paycheck to paycheck, these costs can prove devastating even when they ultimately prevail in court.
The legal process itself creates additional burdens for wrongfully arrested individuals. From the moment of arrest through arraignment, evidence gathering, potential trial preparation, and eventual dismissal, victims of wrongful arrest must navigate a complex legal system while simultaneously managing work, family, and other obligations. Many hire attorneys not because they’re guilty but because navigating the system without legal representation risks mistakes that could have lasting consequences.
The psychological toll of wrongful arrest deserves attention alongside financial impacts. Being accused of drunk driving when sober represents a profound violation of trust in law enforcement and the justice system. The fear and confusion of being pulled over, subjected to field sobriety tests designed to identify impairment you don’t have, arrested, booked, and charged with a crime you didn’t commit creates trauma that statistics alone cannot capture.
For Tennessee’s criminal justice system, the high rate of sober DUI arrests raises questions about training, supervision, and accountability mechanisms. Field sobriety tests, while useful tools when properly administered and interpreted, are inherently subjective and prone to false positives. Officers making arrest decisions based on field sobriety test performance without corroborating evidence like breathalyzer results or observed erratic driving may be more likely to make mistakes—particularly if internal pressure exists to maximize DUI arrests.
The dismissal patterns in Pearl’s cases suggest possible problems beyond simple mistakes in judgment. When 22 of 41 arrests involve completely sober individuals, the error rate exceeds what random chance or good-faith misinterpretation of ambiguous situations would produce. Whether Pearl’s pattern reflects inadequate training, malice, pressure to meet informal quotas, or other factors remains unclear in the absence of transparent investigation and reporting by THP.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol’s refusal to comment on Pearl’s dismissed cases and the broader pattern of sober DUI arrests compounds public concern about accountability. Law enforcement agencies serve the public and derive their authority from public trust. When agencies decline to address evidence of systematic problems, they undermine that trust and fuel speculation about cover-ups or institutional defensiveness prioritizing reputation over accountability.
Legislative oversight represents one mechanism for addressing law enforcement accountability challenges, though its effectiveness depends on legislators’ willingness to conduct meaningful inquiry rather than simply accepting agency assurances. The January 2026 testimony from Colonel Perry before state lawmakers represented a step toward transparency, but his assertions that no inappropriate arrests have been identified clash with objective evidence that hundreds of sober Tennesseans were arrested for DUI in 2024.
Potential reforms to reduce sober DUI arrests might include mandatory breathalyzer testing before arrest when field sobriety tests are the primary basis for DUI suspicion, enhanced training on field sobriety test administration and interpretation, closer supervision of officers with high dismissal rates for DUI charges, elimination of any informal quotas or pressure to maximize DUI arrests, and independent investigation of officers whose DUI arrests are frequently dismissed with blood tests showing no intoxication.
Some law enforcement experts argue that aggressive DUI enforcement saves lives by deterring impaired driving and removing dangerous drivers from roads before they cause crashes. This public safety rationale justifies asking all drivers to cooperate with sobriety checkpoints and field sobriety tests even when inconvenient. However, this rationale collapses when enforcement becomes so aggressive that sober drivers face arrest, creating injustice without corresponding public safety benefit.
The balance between effective DUI enforcement and protection against wrongful arrest requires careful calibration. Officers need discretion to arrest drivers who appear impaired even before blood test results confirm intoxication—waiting for lab results would allow dangerously impaired drivers to continue driving for hours or days. But this discretion must be exercised with care, restraint, and awareness that arrests carry serious consequences for those targeted.
For Ron LaFlamme and the 21 other Bedford County residents arrested by Pearl despite being sober, the dismissal of charges represents vindication but not restoration. The time, money, stress, and damage to reputation cannot be fully recovered. While they may have legal recourse through civil suits against Pearl or the Tennessee Highway Patrol, such litigation is expensive, time-consuming, and uncertain in outcome.
The broader implications of Tennessee’s sober DUI arrest problem extend beyond individual cases to affect public perceptions of law enforcement legitimacy and fairness. When hundreds of sober Tennesseans are arrested annually for drunk driving, it suggests either systematic problems with training and supervision or intentional abuse of authority. Either way, public confidence suffers.
Looking ahead, Tennessee lawmakers and law enforcement leaders face a choice between meaningful reform and continued defensive denial of systemic problems. The data compiled by WSMV4 and others provides clear evidence that too many sober Tennesseans are being arrested for DUI. Whether this pattern results from inadequate training, pressure to meet arrest numbers, individual bad actors, or other causes matters less than the need for corrective action.
As the 2026 legislative session continues, state senators and representatives have opportunities to demand accountability, require transparency from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and implement reforms that protect both public safety and individual rights. Whether they will exercise these opportunities with vigor or defer to law enforcement agencies reluctant to acknowledge problems will determine whether Tennessee’s sober DUI arrest problem improves or persists.
For now, Tennessee drivers continue facing the unsettling reality that they could be arrested for drunk driving despite being completely sober, subjected to the full weight of the criminal justice system, forced to spend thousands of dollars on legal defense, and potentially never receive an apology or acknowledgment of wrongdoing from the officers and agencies responsible for their ordeal. This reality undermines the very foundation of law enforcement legitimacy in a democratic society.
