Housing chief fired after fourth DUI arrest

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A former Mahoning Valley assistant prosecutor and interim director of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority has been fired as chief executive officer of the Wilmington, N.C., Housing Authority after his fourth driving-under-the-influence arrest.

After nearly two hours behind closed doors, the WHA commissioners voted Thursday to fire Michael Krause from his $142,000-per-year post.

His dismissal came after his Sunday arrest, in which his blood-alcohol level registered 0.35, which is more than four times the legal limit, according to WWAY-TV in Wilmington.

After Krause, now 41, left YMHA to head WHA in 2008, he pleaded guilty to a 2009 drunken-driving charge, in which his BAC was 0.23, the TV station said.

Krause was convicted of driving under the influence in August 2000 in Columbiana County, with the stipulation that it was his second such offense.

A graduate of Westminster College and the University of Akron law school, Krause was an assistant Columbiana County prosecutor and an assistant Youngstown prosecutor before becoming director of human resources and deputy director at YMHA.