Lawyer says suspended Des Moines officer may have sleep disorder

Suspended Des Moines police officer Brandon Singleton is now under medical treatment aimed at diagnosing a possible sleep disorder that the officer’s family believes to be the cause of two recent crashes of patrol vehicles, Singleton’s defense attorney told The Des Moines Register today.

Lawyer F. Montgomery Brown said unspecified medical experts are attempting to diagnose whether Singleton has narcolepsy or some stress-related problem brought on by a pending divorce or post-traumatic stress from the officer’s 2004 Army service in Korea.

Either way, “the family is confident that that is what we can attribute these car accidents to” and that drug use was not involved, Brown said.

Singleton, 28, was arrested on misdemeanor charges Tuesday after methamphetamine and marijuana were found in his patrol car. The discovery came after Singleton crashed his police cruiser on the city’s east side and then drove away, police said. Singleton allegedly misled co-workers about the details of the accident, prompting officers to search his patrol car when he asked for help changing two tires.

At the time, Singleton was under investigation for an April 18 crash involving a patrol car; trial also is scheduled in May in a lawsuit related to a different 2010 crash. Singleton, who has been with the department since 2007, now is on paid administrative leave.

Brown, in his interview with The Register today, denied that Singleton had been using drugs while on duty. Police on Tuesday found the drugs in a duffel bag in the backseat of the car, the lawyer said.

Brown declined to comment on how the drugs came to be in Singleton’s patrol car, but he denied they belonged to the officer. Singleton has pleaded “not guilty” to the possession charges, Brown said.

“There’s a complicated back story,” Brown said.

Brown said he understands there has been “one or more” instances over the past year of Singleton falling asleep inappropriately, including “nodding off while writing reports.”

WebMD defines narcolepsy as “a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. People with narcolepsy experience excessive daytime sleepiness and intermittent, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the daytime.”

According to the website, “Narcolepsy usually begins between the ages of 15 and 25, but it can become apparent at any age.”

Brown said Singleton eventually could be transferred to a sleep disorder clinic, depending on the results of the ongoing medical review.