Akron Police Chief James Nice wants to know what’s causing so many of his off-duty officers to break the law.
“It’s been rough. It’s very embarrassing,” he said. “We hope to discuss what’s going on, how this is happening, and what we can do to solve it. We’re not going to hide from this issue.”
Most recently, three of his ranking officers were charged with drunken driving over the course of two months.
• At 1:30 a.m. July 10, a trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol charged Lt. Kris Beitzel with driving with a 0.115 percent blood-alcohol concentration on U.S. Route 224 in Portage County’s Randolph Township. Ohio’s legal limit to drive is 0.08 percent.
• At about 9 p.m. Aug. 7, Sgt. Vince Yurick allegedly crashed his vehicle, seriously injuring his wife, in Akron’s 2100 block of Canterbury Circle. He was found to have been driving with a 0.138 blood-alcohol concentration.
• And at about 1 p.m. Sept. 3, a trooper charged Sgt. Michael Lugenbeal with drunken driving on George Washington Boulevard near Hilbish Avenue. He was accused of driving despite having a 0.269 blood-alcohol concentration — more than three times the legal limit.
Nice said he expects responsibility from his officers — and especially from supervisors.
“Coming from the military, I expect more from the leaders of my organization,” he said. “Frankly, I’m ticked.”
He plans to encourage officers to seek counseling, should they need it, through the city’s Ease at Work program.
Frank Williams, president of the police union, said no formal union action had been taken to address the series of drunken driving incidents.
He said officers are reminded through monthly newsletters and meetings to “do the right thing” when out socializing.
“We tell them if you’ve got someone next to you at the bar who might have had too much to drink, maybe call them a cab or offer them a ride home,” he said. “That invitation extends to all of our officers from our executive board, too. If you need a ride, we’d rather you call than drive.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ngfalcon.