Thursday morning, Perkins police hauled an alleged drunken driver off to jail. Her arrest came just moments after officers received a tip from a Taco Bell employee, who said the driver was possibly intoxicated.
Click here to take the poll: Should the police department release the report?
Two weeks earlier, Perkins police received a similar tip from a Taco Bell employee, who said a woman was passed out in her car at the drive-through. When officers went to investigate, they found Perkins Officer Kate Barker in her silver Toyota nearby, according to police.
Officers provided Barker a ride home, according to sources outside the township. A test administered hours later at the hospital put Barker's blood-alcohol content at 0.139 percent, according to a police report.
Barker was never charged with a crime.
The other woman remains in jail on more than $5,000 bond.
Meanwhile, Perkins Township trustees, the police chief and the township's attorney, John Coppeler, have refused to release an internal investigative report detailing the alleged incident involving Barker.
The report involving Thursday's alleged drunken driver was released within hours.
To read more on this story, pick up Saturday's Register.
Comments
You mean they actually have double-standards in Erie County? Why, who would have ever thought!
So who is the "other" woman? Why can't you print her name in this article?
Did they witness one driving, and the other not driving. Were both of the vehicles in drive and in motion?
How can you charge someone with a DUI if the officer does not witness the vehicle in motion? Public intox would be more applicable.
If you read the print version it says that the officer followed both, turn on the overhead lights, and the driver pulled over. That is presuming that the SR account is correct.
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REALLY? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio has carved out an exception to the requirement that a peace officer must actually witness the misdemeanor occur. The law now states the peace officer need only have "reasonable grounds to believe a crime has been committed" to arrest for a misdemeanor not witnessed.
ANYONE, EVEN IF NOT DRIVING,BUT IN CONTROL OF THE KEYS, AND IS SUSPECTED OF BEING OR HAS BEEN DRIVING CAN BE CHARGED,,, IT HAS TO DO WITH "CONTROL"
By law, you can be charged with OMVI (DUI) if you are in a parked car, with the engine off and your keys in your pocket.
That is 100 percent false.
So, I guess the judges who have imposed a sentence for this in the past didn't know what they were doing.
YOU ARE RIGHT, IT ISNT DUI, BUT....... CONTROL, AND A LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE.
True, but that usually results, depending upon the circumstances, in a charge of being in physical control of a motor vehicle wile under the influence, a much less serious crime with no mandatory jail sentence.
Under Ohio law, there are factors that can determine if a person had physical control of a vehicle:
1) The person was in the driver's seat
2) The person was in possession of the ignition key and
3) The person was either under the influence of alcohol or they tested over the legal limit.
http://www.lawyersand.com/Ohio-O...
Under the law if the key is is the ignition and the car is running you are within the limits of OVI/DUI, It does not matter it the car was moving or not.
Car does not have to be running.
The reason I mentioned a running car as the one instance in Taco Bell drive through had to be running or how would it have made it there, It strengthens the case for a OVI/DUI charge that as we have seen was ignored.
SOMEONE has to collect evidence in this case, and it appears, that
evidence isnt going to make it into muni court, and as such, FELONY CORRUPTION CHARGES MUST BE ISSUED. NOW, IF LYNN GAST, OR PERKINS PPL, DO NOT CHARHE THIS COP/////
WE ARE PREPARED TO TAKE IT TO FBI/CLEVELAND AND DOJ FOR CHARGES ACROSS THE BOARD, INCLUDING, COPS, TRUSTEES, COUNTY OFFICIALS, AND BAXTER.SOMEONE BETTER TELL THEIR PALS, CORRUPT ONES, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.... ET AL.
*These rules do not apply to cops in Perkins Township*
4) was the person a brother in blue or a regular citizen?
I think the cop was a brother in blue!!!
Back to the article.... was it the same officer responding to same call? We need to stop painting all law enforcement with a broad brush. I choose to believe a different Perkins officer in the same situation would have made a better call.
I am not a cop and a Perkins Officer gave me a ride home one time instead of arresting me. I think they do this more often than people think just to make sure they get home safe.
And when was this? Last I heard their insurance policy would not cover ride homes and I heard this a long, long time ago.
Read the police log in the print version of the SR, PPD gives a decnt amount of people a ride home, not just for DUI's.
Really PPD give drunk drivers a ride home? What is the criteria for such special treatment?
@ Blowfish
your guess on that is as good as mine. I do know I have seen more ride homes for other reason, broke down,..., than DUI's.
This was a few years ago but I know they give people rides home after accidents and stuff as well so I am sure their insurance covers it.
This might get pretty interesting. Wasn't an officer dispatched there and didn't that officer claim that they didn't find anything? Not only that but this officer saw fit to neglect his job responsibilities and provide a cab ride? Sounds like there should be a couple of resignations in the future.
I am sure that the management of this newspaper longs for the "ethical" standards of the ex-chief of Perkins, convicted felon that was described by the editor as the best law enforcement officer he met.
Yes, the felon was admired by the one with the axe to grind! Forgive his hubris, after all it's only an axe!
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