Niles police captain suspended for one week after driving conviction

Staff report

NILES

Capt. Robert Miketa II, 42, of the Niles Police Department will serve a one-week suspension from his job after pleading no contest Wednesday in Warren Municipal Court to reckless operation of a motor vehicle stemming from a drunken-driving charge and speeding charge filed against him Sept. 21.

The suspension is for a code-of-conduct violation, meaning he displayed poor conduct, including any conduct which “brings the department into disrepute or reflects discredit upon the individual as a department employee or that which tends to impair the operation or efficiency of the department or department employees.”

His unpaid suspension will be from May 27 to June 2.

Niles Police Chief Jay Holland issued a news release Thursday saying Miketa reported the conviction to the chief. Miketa accepted the discipline and waived his appeal rights. He has no prior disciplinary record, Holland said.

Warren Municipal Court records say Judge Tom Gysegem sentenced Miketa to 30 days in the Trumbull County jail with 27 days suspended. He was ordered to participate in a driver intervention program, which allows an offender to avoid jail time if they take a three-day course.

Miketa was placed on three years’ probation, and his license suspension was lifted. He had been allowed driving privileges during the pendency of his case.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol charged Miketa after making a traffic stop at 2:21 a.m. on North Road near Devon Drive. He was traveling 44 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone. He refused to submit to a blood or breath test to determine if he was intoxicated.

Miketa also pleaded no contest to speeding. He has worked for the police department since his hiring as a patrolman in 2001.