An off-duty Grand Traverse County Sheriff's deputy who was arrested on suspicion of driving drunk will not face criminal charges.

Park rangers pulled over a vehicle about 9 p.m. Saturday night on M-22 near Wilco Road after noticing it was weaving across the center and fog lines. The driver, Gregory S. McManemy of Traverse City, an off-duty deputy, was given a preliminary breath test at the scene that registered .09.

The legal limit for blood alcohol content is .08, but no field sobriety tests were administered.

“Rangers first saw the vehicle as it was driving away from Esch Beach (in Benzie County),” chief ranger Larry Johnson said.

He said standard policy for Park Service rangers is to transport suspects to the closest “federally-approved” holding facility, which is in Grand Traverse County.

However, Johnson said four other people in the vehicle who were in no condition to drive, and by the time an available driver was located at South Bar Lake to transport the four, McManemy wasn’t taken to Traverse City until 9:32 p.m.

After arriving at the Grand Traverse County jail in Traverse City, it was 10:10 p.m. before an official breathalyzer test was administered. By that time, the suspect’s blood alcohol content was measured at .04.

Portable breathalyzer tests are not admissible in court, Johnson said.

Johnson, who contacted the U.S. Attorneys office in Grand Rapids, said McManemy will not face criminal charges. The deputy was suspended without pay, however, by Grand Traverse County pending further investigation. In local television broadcast reports, Grand Traverse Sheriff Scott Fewins was critical of the Park rangers’ failure to administer sobriety tests to McManemy in Empire, saying the lack of action “bordered on incompetence.”

Johnson defended his agency’s handling of the situation.

“We’re not out here to crucify people. We’re here to keep the area safe and free from hazards,” he said.

Johnson said the suspect’s drop in alcohol level from .09 to .04 in a little over an hour raised a red flag with regard to the accuracy of the portable breathalyzer device, which was checked immediately thereafter.

“(McManemy) was borderline when he was stopped,” Johnson said. “The best thing we could do was to take him into custody.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, McManemy had been issued one violation notice for failure to comply with a traffic control device (road stripes). Another traffic violation was pending as of press time. Both are subject to a $100 fine, paid to the U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.