About two months after his arrest for allegedly driving “hammered drunk,” Dearborn Fire Chief Joseph Murray is back on the job — and still has yet to be charged.
City officials allowed Murray to return Monday under a cloak of secrecy, surprising many Dearborn employees.
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud’s office declined to comment on Murray’s return until Tuesday, five days after Metro Times began asking questions.
“After careful consideration, my administration has decided to reinstate Joseph Murray as chief of the Dearborn Fire Department,” Hammoud said in a written statement. “The choice to retain Chief Murray derives from balancing a two-decades-long career in public service and the humility to not evaluate an individual in their darkest moments.”
Hammoud announced on Aug. 31 that Murray was placed on administrative leave.
“We are taking this matter seriously,” Hammoud said at the time. “As facts become known, we will take the appropriate course of action.”
Murray was arrested around 2:45 a.m. on Aug. 29 after Dearborn Heights police said they spotted him speeding and weaving in traffic. Murray declined a breathalyzer test and insisted he had “four or five beers,” according to body cam footage.
“Let’s be honest, you’re absolutely ripped,” one of the officers responded. “You’re hammered drunk. You can barely speak. You can barely stand up.”
Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Eric Fucking Church,” in reference to the country music star, Murray responded intelligibly.
It was initially unclear why Murray had not been charged. The Wayne County Prosecutor’s office originally told Metro Times that it had not received a warrant request from the Dearborn Heights Police Department.
In drunken driving cases, charges are typically filed soon after an arrest.
But Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, later said that police sent the warrant request “to the wrong unit.” Prosecutors are now reviewing the request.
Metro Times couldn’t reach Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod Hart, but an employee in the department’s record division said the case “is pending.”
Murray, who is president of the Southeastern Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs, joined the Dearborn Fire Department in 2004 and was promoted to fire chief in 2012.
Originally from Chicago, Murray received three degrees from Madonna University in Livonia, according to his city biography. He later received a master’s degree in business administration in 2005, a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2007, and a doctorate in public policy and administration from Walden University in 2011.
Murray oversees more than 125 firefighters who work out of five fire stations.
Metro Times couldn’t reach Murray for comment.
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