WARREN — Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Ronald Rice refused to take a field sobriety test before his drunken driving arrest, according to new information obtained in a public records request.

According to bodycam footage obtained Thursday afternoon from Ohio State Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Logan Nowlin, Rice said the single-vehicle rollover crash Friday night was caused by a deer that ran out in front of him.

“(I was) flying down the road at 55 (MPH) and a deer ran out and I swerved to miss it,” Rice said. “I swerved to the right, and that was not a good thing to do.”

Rice admitted to the trooper that he did keep a gun and a stun weapon in his car, adding that he was a judge. He said there were no other passengers in the car.

When he was asked how much he had consumed, Rice said he had met a friend at the Candywood Wine Cellar in Vienna, where he had two drinks. Rice showed no signs of physical injury, except for a bandage with blood around it on the right side of his head. He walked with the trooper to his cruiser with seemingly no issues.

He rejected any offer of field sobriety testing — even refusing an eye check.

“I would be stupid to say yes, and you would agree,” Rice told the trooper.

Rice was understanding when the officer noted the nature of the crash, as well as his speech, his eyes, odor, speech and walking as reasons for placing him under arrest.

Nowlin said Monday that Rice, of Brookfield, was driving a 2025 Mini Cooper south when he failed to negotiate a curve and traveled off the right side of the road. The vehicle struck two traffic signs and overturned in a ditch.

Rice’s attorney, Robert Kokor, filed a written not guilty plea to the two misdemeanors on Monday in Girard Municipal Court. A plea is not required at the municipal court level on felony charges.

The court requested the appointment of an assigned judge by the Supreme Court of Ohio that day, claiming the “possible appearance of impropriety and to promote the public’s confidence in the judiciary.”

A plea is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. July 31 for both charges, according to court records.