PARKERSBURG - A Parkersburg police officer was suspended earlier this year after he was arrested in Ohio where he was charged initially with operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
Parkersburg Police Officer Ricky Koher, 26, was stopped for speeding in August in Jackson, Ohio, by a Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper.
According to Jackson Municipal Court, Koher was charged with speeding and physical contact of alcohol. The court records do not detail the stop, but state Koher refused a DUI test.
According to the impaired driver report from the Patrol, Koher was initially cited for OVI and speeding. According to the report, Koher, driving a GMC Sonoma, passed Trooper H.G. Shaner at a high rate of speed around 6 p.m. Aug. 5. Shaner reported he got behind the vehicle and paced it for close to a mile traveling at 85 miles per hour.
Shaner asked Koher for his driver's license. "Mr. Koher handed me a West Virginia Police identification badge from the city of Parkersburg," Shaner's report states.
Shaner reported a strong smell of alcohol from Koher and asked how much he drank and asked him to step out of the vehicle. Shaner also noted Koher's speech was slurred and repetitive.
Koher failed a series of field sobriety tests, at one point losing his balance nearly falling onto the parking lot, the report states.
Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell said the following day Koher was in his office detailing the incident.
"He talked to the police officer and the prosecuting attorney and said they were not going to charge him with DUI, but with another offense," Newell said.
On Sept. 18, in Jackson Municipal Court Koher pleaded guilty to speeding and physical contact of alcohol. He was fined $1,150 and $103 in court costs. He was also given a 30-day suspended sentence.
"We suspended him for poor judgment," the mayor said.
