Trumbull, Mahoning in top 10 in OVI arrests

Trumbull and Mahoning counties have made the state Top 10 - for drunken driving arrests.

Statistics released by the Ohio State Highway Patrol Friday show Mahoning County ranks seventh and Trumbull County is 10th in operating a vehicle while under the influence arrests from Jan. 1, 2008 to Nov. 30.

Mahoning County ranks seventh in arrests during that time with 1,207 arrests. Trumbull County is 10th with 1,089 arrests.

Lt. Joe Dragovich, commander of the patrol's Southington Post, said the state's funding of the OVI Task Force recently has been crucial in helping to get drunks off the road.

He said the task force runs check points not just to catch drunken drivers, but also to educate drivers and officers on the dangers of drunken driving.

''Over the last several years, there's been a heightened level awareness about drunken driving in Trumbull County,'' Dragovich said.

Dragovich said the funding from the state Department of Public Safety can even be used to fund the hours for an officer to work specifically to concentrate on looking for drunken drivers.

Dragovich said in Trumbull County, the area around Howland is the hub of the county, and that is where most of the drinking establishments. He said most arrests in the county are like the spokes on a wheel from that hub.

In Mahoning County, Canfield Post commander Lt. Chris Heverly said Austintown and Boardman are the busiest places for his troopers to be making OVI arrests.

Drunken driving is one of the main focuses for troopers at his post, Heverly said.

''We've seen firsthand the devastating effects it can have,'' Heverly said.

Unlike Trumbull County, Heverly said his post is not as heavily involved in running OVI checkpoints, although he did say that he will run saturation patrols in the areas that check points are operating.

The key to his post making a lot of arrests is to have his troopers focused, Heverly said.

''They are focused on knowing what to look for,'' Heverly said.

Both posts are dealing with alcohol-related accidents within the last month. On Nov. 28, two people were killed and three others seriously injured in an accident on North Leavitt Road in Warren Township where the alcohol was suspected. The driver survived the crash, which is still under investigation.

Just after midnight Wednesday, a man was killed on Interstate 80 in Austintown after his car rammed into the rear of an Ohio Department of Transportation snow plow. Investigators with the Canfield post say alcohol may have been a factor in that crash as well.

jgorman@tribtoday.com