A Warren police officer with a history of domestic violence
complaints and who once accidentally shot a fellow police officer will not get
his job back after being fired in December, an arbiter ruled Thursday.
Arbitrator Mark I. Luried ruled Thursday that Jeffrey
Miller, a 17-year police veteran, was justly fired Dec. 5 after he skipped a
probation violation hearing on a reckless operation conviction that stemmed
from a drunken driving arrest and was jailed for five days.
Miller was charged with drunken driving following a Sept.
22, 2011 accident in which he refused a breath test and initially lied about
drinking. Miller initially denied drinking to Ohio State Highway Patrol
Troopers but then supplied troopers with a written statement he drank two
24-ounce beers before driving.
He told then-Police Chief Tim Bowers he “shouldn’t have been
driving” during a pre-disciplinary hearing. He violated probation and never
showed up to court. He also never attended mandatory treatment programs ordered
by Mahoning County Boardman Area Court Judge Joseph Houser.
Miller was never disciplined for the drunken driving charge
and ensuing reckless operation conviction, the arbiter’s ruling says. He also
was never officially reprimanded for multiple domestic violence arrests at his
Weathersfield Township home in 2010 and 2011, according to the arbiter’s
report.
In one instance, the report said, Miller threatened to kill
himself and officers found pistols, empty beer cans and bottles and several
prescription medication bottles.
None of the charges were ever prosecuted and he was never
disciplined.
Miller, in 2002, accidentally shot fellow police officer
Benny Harrell twice in the leg when the two responded to a burglary report. A
police internal investigation revealed he was not criminally negligent.
