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Warren officer pleads innocent in traffic crash
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A city patrol officer charged with operating a motor vehicle impaired and failure to maintain an assured clear distance after a five-vehicle accident Wednesday on Youngstown Road has pleaded innocent.
Ben Harrell, 45, entered the plea in Warren Municipal Court and was released on a personal recognizance bond, meaning he didn’t have to pay anything.
Harrell, who is a traffic investigator and also works in departmental-vehicle maintenance, is on sick leave from the department, said Capt. Janice Gilmore.
At Harrell’s hearing Thursday, Judge Terry Ivanchak of Warren Municipal Court put Harrell on an administrative driver’s-license suspension. That means he cannot drive for 15 days, after which he can seek driving privileges for work, court officials said.
Harrell, who has been a Warren police officer since 1996, hit the rear of a stopped vehicle about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday while off duty. The collision injured the driver of the stopped car, requiring her to be treated at a local hospital.
The collision also caused a chain-reaction collision with three other vehicles, but no other injuries resulted, said the Trumbull County sheriff’s office, which investigated the crash.
Harrell’s blood-alcohol level was later measured at 0.207, the sheriff’s office said.
Meanwhile, another Warren police officer arrested recently, Jeff Miller, returned to work Thursday after domestic-violence charges and a restraining order were dropped against him and his wife.
Miller, 46, a Warren police officer since 1995, and his wife, Stephanie, 29, were both charged with domestic violence after a fight Oct. 17 at their Weathersfield Township home.
But Terry Swauger, Niles prosecutor, dropped the charges during separate pretrial hearings Wednesday.
The protection orders also were lifted Oct. 22, court files indicate.
Swauger said he dropped the charges because the alleged victim of the domestic violence, the Millers’ 2-year-old son, is not old enough to testify. The Millers did not want to press charges against each other, Swauger said.
“It would have been nearly impossible to prosecute this case,” Swauger said.
A Weathersfield Township police report said the boy suffered red marks on his rib cage, under his armpit and around his biceps and was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital for treatment.
The boy was injured when the Millers fought over him, police said.
The Trumbull County Children Services Board was also investigating, police said.