Des Moines, Washington, is a community of about 30,000 on the shores of Puget Sound half way between Seattle and Tacoma. It’s the kind of small town where the police department only has 32 sworn officers, arrests a few hundred people a year, and publishes their online annual report using the “Papyrus” font. It seems like a pretty laid-back kind of place – maybe too laid back, considering one recent letter to the editor of The Waterland Blog.

According to the letter, written by local resident Joe Armes, on the night of August 10th, 2014, a 5th gen Camaro with two occupants ended up in a ditch in front of his property. After the pair unsuccessfully tried to get the car extracted, Des Moines PD officers arrived on the scene but didn’t place either man under arrest.

‘The officers never took statements from us as witnesses and the trash and debris (including their case of beer and license plate from the Camaro) are still in our yard.’

“We went outside and spoke with the two men who smelled strongly of alcohol and were stumbling,” said Armes. “The man in red admitted to us to driving, that they were drinking and said he didn’t “know what happened.” He then proceeded to tell us that MPO J. West was the “best fucking cop ever” for not taking him to jail and that MPO J West told them he had too much else to deal with and would just call a tow truck.”

Armes goes on to allege that after 90 minutes of waiting for the tow truck in his police cruiser, West let the pair walk home two blocks away. The Des Moines PD had this to say in response:

The Des Moines Police Department takes the crime of Driving Under the Influence very seriously. We appreciate the citizen bringing their concerns forward and we will look into the actions and behaviors of our officers. In addition, we will reach out to any witnesses to determine what information they may have that will assist us in this investigation.

Check out The Waterland Blog for the full (and pretty unbelievable) story.