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Plea from former chief expected

CORTLAND — Former police Chief Gary Mink is expected to plead guilty in a case that stems from a one-car crash June 24 near Tamer Win Golf and Country Club in Bazetta..

A plea hearing is set Oct. 22 in Trumbull County Central District Court in Cortland, according to court records.

Mink, 61, faces misdemeanor charges of hit / skip and failure to control. However, one of the charges could be amended as part of the deal, said Mink’s attorney, George Gessner.

According to a report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, an orange 2012 Jeep Wrangler traveling north on state Route 46 near the golf course went off the road into a ditch and struck a culvert before coming back onto the road and driving off.

Police followed a mud trail from the accident to Mink’s home on Southdale Boulevard, where they found a damaged orange Jeep in the garage, and Mink by the garage in a chair, according to a city police report.

The report states Mink was slurring his words and had difficulty telling police his telephone number, and used his hands to show police the number, the report states.

When the state patrol went to the home, the report states the driver refused to come to the door, but when contacted by phone, Mink agreed to meet with investigators the next day, the patrol report states.

Mink told the patrol he was traveling about 45 mph and left the scene of the crash because no other vehicles were involved, and he knew he had 24 hours to report it to police, the report states. He said he had a beer at lunch at noon and three to four glasses of vodka after the crash, the report states.

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