Tom Meyer, WKYC
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio -- What are
the chances you would get a break if you were caught driving and driving?
Veteran Willoughby Patrolman
Steve Alemagno could have possibly arrested a fellow officer who had been
drinking and driving. He could have given the officer a field sobriety test.
He did neither. Instead, he cut
the officer a break and had him call a friend for a ride home.
Alemagno never stuck around
long enough to see if off-duty Ashtabula Officer Wayne Howell ever got a ride.
He didn't. Instead, he got back into his pick-up truck and drove away.
He was later stopped by the
Ohio State Highway Patrol and arrested for OVI after his blood alcohol level
was nearly two times the legal limit of .08.
Willoughby Police Chief Jack
Beckwith suspended Alemagno for three days for making a bad decision.
But Beckwith admitted his
officers have discretion in these types of cases. That drew a stunned reaction
from Judy Liggett, from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
"We're just lucky the
conversation is about the discipline of the officer instead of a funeral for
someone that was innocently driving down their road and their life was taken
senselessly," said Liggett.
The highway patrol told the
Investigator Tom Meyer that no one they pull over for drinking and driving ever
gets a break.
"We stop you and issue a
citation for OVI," said Lt. Brant Zemelka, of the Chardon post of the Ohio
Highway Patrol.
Howell has been reassigned as a
dispatcher indefinitely and given a 20 percent cut in pay until Ashtabula
Police Chief Robert Stell decides if further disciplinary action is warranted.
