OSHP steps up impaired-driving enforcement

By JOE GORMAN

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Troopers from the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol have more than doubled the amount of arrests on charges of operating under the influence in a one-month period over the same period in 2016.

And they have been doing it without any extra help, said post commander Lt. Jerad Sutton.

The enforcement primarily has been on midnight turn and has come because Sutton said he wants to increase the number of OVI citations due to an increase in alcohol-related crashes not just in the city, but in Mahoning County as well.

From Memorial Day weekend through June 28, troopers charged 38 people with OVI in Youngstown, mostly on the South Side in the South Avenue corridor.

One person, Jermaine Stroughter, 37, of Youngstown, was charged two weeks in a row – the first June 9 at South and East Avondale avenues, and the second June 16 at East Dewey Avenue. His cases are pending in municipal court.

For the same time period, there have been a total of 42 OVI cases filed in municipal court this year.

In the same time period in 2016, troopers handed out 15 OVI citations. Of those cases, two were bound over to a grand jury, and in the rest, defendants either were found guilty after pleading no contest or pleaded guilty to OVI or a lesser charge of loss of physical control.

Sutton said through May of this year, statistics kept by the state patrol show that alcohol was a factor in 67 percent of the traffic accidents in the city. There have been three fatal accidents apiece south or north of the Interstate 680 corridor in the city where alcohol was a factor, Sutton said.

The troopers handing out the citations are doing it without any extra help, Sutton said. He said it is all part of their regular patrol shift when they hit the road each night.

The fact that they are able to concentrate on looking for extra OVI offenders while also doing their regular duties speaks to their training and dedication, Sutton said.

Throughout the county, OVI arrests are up from this time last year, with 306 this year compared with 279 in 2016. Because of that, Sutton said injury crashes in the county related to alcohol are down 46 percent. He said the Mahoning County OVI Task Force is to be credited with that reduction as well.

Youngstown Police Chief Robin Lees said he appreciates the help of the patrol in the city, particularly on the South Side, where because of staffing issues and call volume, officers often are unable to perform any kind of traffic enforcement.

Sutton said he hopes the word is out for people driving in those areas that troopers are out to stop them if they are drinking and driving. He encouraged them not to get behind the wheel or to call for a ride if they need one.