Trustee Corner

I ran into Sgt. Ken Wolf when I was leaving Sagamore Hills Town Hall and he shared an interesting traffic story with me. On June 23, officers Glenn Lucore and Ryan Shelby observed a vehicle driving on Dunham Road approaching the Valley View intersection. The driver crashed the red light and went off the road. The driver was from Cleveland and on his way to Solon. He refused to submit to a portable breath test and claimed he had been drinking the night before. The driver also refused to do a field sobriety test. This impaired driver was placed under arrest for operating a vehicle under the influence. An inventory check of the vehicle found a 25-ounce Natty Daddy beer that was half empty and cold to the touch. There were other unopened Natty Daddy beer cans in the car as well. When the inventory check was finished, the driver asked if he could finish the open Natty Daddy.

During booking it was discovered that the driver’s license was suspended. He was issued traffic citations for OVI, OVIBAC, non-compliance suspension, operating without reasonable control and cited for open container. The car was towed.

Some interesting facts: The driver had one OVI conviction and thought he was on Solon Road at 6 p.m. In reality, the driver was on Valley View and Dunham and the time was 3:20 p.m. The driver agreed to give a breath sample at the police station. The test gave a reading of .125 BAC. There were pills in the car as well and police planned to destroy them. Wolf felt this incident was important for parents to review with first-year drivers. Please remind young drivers there are day drinkers and everyone needs to drive defensively.

Old cases do get resolved. In 2015, two residents agreed on the price of a Dodge Viper for sale. The owner gave the buyer an unsigned title and keys before receiving his money. Over an 11-month period this became a civil matter as no money exchanged hands. In January of 2020, Lt. Det. Dan Rice reopened this case for a final disposition. It turned out the car was missing. In February 2020, Rice entered the car as stolen. There was a cast of characters involved with the Viper, but all involved knew nothing. By April of this year, Rice recovered the stolen vehicle. The Viper now has a new owner. The original two individuals agreed to an out of court settlement. Police Chief David Hayes stated he needed a scorecard just to keep track of the people involved in this case. Hayes commended Rice on a job well done.

Roads

Our summer road program had the township replacing a number of concrete slabs in the Eaton Estates. The county engineer estimated the cost at $98,000. Only two companies bid the project. Low bid was $114,000. Trustees David DePasquale and Paul Schweikert would like to rebid again this fall. If we receive a low bid at $98,000, we will award the project. Our “plan b” is to double the slabs next summer. ∞