Updated: Sat Jun. 07 2008 10:29:50

ctvedmonton.ca

A police officer accused of drinking and driving has also been charged with unsafe storage of his service firearm, after police chief Mike Boyd revoked the suspended officer's pay Friday.

Douglas Kurtis Brown, 29, who has been suspended without pay as he waits for his upcoming trial, is facing the new charge for allegedly storing his service firearm at his home at the time of the collision.

Police allege Brown, 29, was intoxicated when his BMW went through a red light at the Whitemud overpass and T-boned a pickup truck last month. He was off-duty at the time of the crash.

Boyd said last month both he and the police commission must agree before an officer can be suspended without pay.

"The circumstances have to be dire for a police chief to suspend an officer without pay," he said on May 13. "The law is written that way to protect police officers so that they can do their job without political interference and people trying to get them off their work."

The new decision follows a slew of public angst regarding Brown still getting paid while he awaits his day in court.

The incident left 18-year-old Robert Wasyliw in hospital with a broken collarbone and severe burns to his back.

Brown is charged with unsafe storage of a firearm, five counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, five counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm and driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of .08.

Police said the five counts come from three people injured in the truck and two injured inside the BMW.