Columbus officer gets plea deal in OVI case
An off-duty Columbus police officer who was charged last month with driving while intoxicated in Westerville pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge of physical control of a vehicle while under the influence.
Jay L. Graham, 56, who lives in Westerville, was fined $375 and must spend three days in the Richland County Community Alternative Center, a pay-to-stay jail alternative in Mansfield with a drug and alcohol treatment program.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Jim O'grady also suspended Graham's driver's license for one year, but granted him occupational driving privileges, which allows him to drive a police cruiser while on duty.
Graham, a member of the Columbus Division of Police since 2006, was taken off patrol after his arrest, and his internal disciplinary case remains under review.
“We believe that once the facts are reviewed, along with his lack of a prior disciplinary history and the fact that he was not convicted of a felony, he'll maintain his employment,” said Graham's attorney, Sam Shamansky.
Westerville police officers found a handgun, which was not Graham's service weapon, in his jacket pocket during his arrest and referred the case to the Franklin County prosecutor's office for a potential felony charge of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Shamansky said it is standard procedure for that charge not to be pursued by prosecutors if the person charged with drunken driving takes responsibility for operating or being in control of a vehicle while intoxicated.
Graham “got the same treatment that any other citizen would under similar circumstances,” Shamansky said.
A Westerville police officer reported spotting a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck driving in a reckless manner around 11:35 p.m. on March 16 and began to follow the vehicle in the area of Schrock Road and Park Meadow Boulevard.
While the Westerville officer was following the truck, the driver went left of center, onto a raised median and then off the right side of the road into a bike lane, his report states.
Graham admitting have had “a few” drinks in a slightly slurred voice, according to body camera video of the incident. He then failed multiple field sobriety tests, which were captured on body and dash cameras. He refused to take a Breathalyzer test requested by Westerville police.
jfutty@dispatch.com