Arbitrator gives job back to fired Ohio trooper

COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper fired after an intoxicated motorist ended up dead after a traffic stop last year should get his job back, an arbitrator has ruled.

The trooper, Sean Carpenter, should be reinstated and paid for part of the time he was out of work, The Columbus Dispatch reported today.

Carpenter, 39, was fired in April for conduct unbecoming of an officer and for failing to perform his duty after a July 2012 incident involving a drunken driver in Delaware County near Columbus.

Carpenter left the 22-year-old intoxicated man who spoke little English with two sheriff’s deputies. The deputies then dropped off the man at a Taco Bell, and he was later hit by a car and killed while walking along a road. Supervisors faulted Carpenter for not arresting the man.

The ruling by the arbitrator came after a state appeals court in August overturned Carpenter’s criminal conviction for dereliction of duty. The court determined he hadn’t been negligent.