Warren man to face 8th DUI charge in 20 years

STAFF report

BOARDMAN — A Warren man is due in Mahoning County Court next week to face his eighth charge in 20 years of operating a motor vehicle while impaired.

About 11 p.m. Oct. 18, a township police officer saw a van traveling north on Market Street with no headlights and a crack in the windshield.

When the officer approached the van and spoke to the driver, Todd W. Tolson, 44, he detected the “odor of an alcoholic beverage.” Tolson’s speech was “slurred and his eyes appeared red and glassy,” the report said.

At the Beaver police station a test showed Tolson had a blood-alcohol level of 0.138 percent. The legal limit for driving is 0.08.

Tolson, of Tod Avenue, Warren, is set to appear Thursday in court on the felony charge. Court records show that the latest incident marks his eighth OVI in 20 years.

Under Ohio law, a fourth OVI conviction within six years or a sixth OVI conviction within 20 years is a felony.

The Northeastern Ohio Mothers Against Drunk Driving was notified about Tolson’s case by a concerned citizen and is researching the case, a spokeswoman said.

Last July, Tolson pleaded no contest and was convicted in Boardman court of obstructing official business and disorderly conduct while intoxicated.

He was placed on probation.

In that incident, Tolson was the passenger in a car that was stopped about 1 a.m. July 9 on Market Street.

The police report said that Tolson exited the vehicle three times after being told to stay in the vehicle while the driver was performing field-sobriety tests.