Oak Hill, OH - Drunk Crashes his car - Drunk Steals Police Cruiser and Crashes - Charged Twice with Driving Under
Thursday proved to be a bad evening for one Oak Hill man, as things quickly
escalated from bad to worse due to a driving mishap.
At approximately 10:20 p.m. Thursday evening The Jackson County Sheriff's Office
received a call that a car had gone off the roadway on Route 93, close to H&H
Retread, just North of Oak Hill.
Two Oak Hill Police Officers were the first to respond to the call, and once
they arrived at the site, exited the cruiser to check on the occupant of the
vehicle, while waiting on the Ohio State Highway Patrol to arrive at the scene.
OHPD was only there to aid traffic flow until the Patrol arrived. The area was
out of their jurisdiction.
According to the report, as one of the Oak Hill officers directed traffic around
the vehicle, the other Oak Hill officer made his way to some debris in the
roadway, which was reported by passing motorists. The police cruiser was left
running, so that passersby would see the lights, signaling caution.
Dennis Gleason Jr., 36, of Route 140, Oak Hill, is believed to have fled his
vehicle, which he had driven off the roadway He then proceeded to get into
the cruiser and flee the scene South on Route 93.
The Police Report indicated that Gleason did not get far. At the fork in the
road at Route 279 and Moriah Road, drove over a road sign, traveled through the
yard of the C.M. Cemetary Building, then striking several trees and coming to
rest in some brush. Jackson County Chief Deputy Jim Ephlin told The Jackson
County Times-Journal that there was extensive damage to the cruiser.
An Oak Hill Police Officer, which the vehicle had been taken from, discovered
the wrecked cruiser a short time later. Gleason was still sitting behind the
wheel but did not appear to have any injuries.
According to Ephlin, Gleason has a long history of driving related charges and
will now have a few additional ones to add to his file.
Gleason is facing one OMVI (Operating a Motor Vehicle Intoxicated) and
failure to control charge through the Sheriff's Office. As well as OMVI, failure
to control and seat belt charge through OSHP, and a felony criminal charge for
theft of the cruiser. The double OMVI and failure to control charges are a
result of both the incidents.
"Its unfortunate," Oak Hill Police Chief Robert Puckett. "Given the
circumstances, this incident could have happened to anyone."
Puckett said that not all of their cruiser fleet is equipt with a lock-out
system. Puckett said just last month Jackson Police department had a person
take a police cruiser.
The benefit of the lock-out system is that it would allow police cruisers to
remain running even though the keys are removed, but the vehicle will not go
into gear, preventing situations like the one Thursday evening.
Gleason is currently being held in the Jackson County Correctional Facility.