DUI arrest at Taco Bell drive-thru leads to job suspension for Smith Township employee
The Smith Township road foreman has been suspended after being charged Feb. 25 with drunken driving in Alliance.
Zachary R Wagner, 31, of Knox Township, faces two charges of operating a motor vehicle while impaired. He pleaded not guilty Friday in Alliance Municipal Court and remained free on a recognizance bond.
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Trustee Larry Barnett said Wagner has been with the road department for five years — the last three as foreman — and his future there "is in limbo" until the court case is resolved. Wagner has been suspended without pay, Barnett said.
Judge Andrew Zumbar set a pretrial date of March 8. Wagner did not have an attorney present.
A message seeking comment was left Friday for Wagner on the cellphone number listed in the police report.
According to a police report, Alliance police officers were flagged down around 2:46 a.m. by a person who said a driver was asleep behind the wheel of his truck in the Taco Bell drive-thru at 110 W. State. St.
Initially, the officers found driver — later identified as Wagner — awake, according to the report.
The officers started to leave when they heard the truck's horn blaring repeatedly and returned to find the driver asleep, slumped over the steering wheel, with empty space ahead of him in the restaurant's drive-thru, the report said. They also said the truck was in "Drive," with the driver's foot on the brake.
The report said officers woke the driver and ordered him out of the truck. They said he had red glassy eyes, slurred speech, a strong odor of alcohol and was lethargic. His blood alcohol content level tested at 0.107%, above Ohio's legal driving limit of 0.08%, according to the report.
Wagner was arrested and processed at the Alliance City Jail. Later, he was released to a family member and his truck was towed.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Smith Township worker pleads not guilty to OVI charges in Alliance
