Trooper arrested on drunken-driving charge

LIMA — A state trooper once honored as a post trooper of the year and for the number of drunken-driving arrests he made was arrested Sunday on the charge of drunken driving.

Gerald L. Gibson, 45, has been charged with drunken driving and a lane violation, according to Auglaize County Municipal Court records. Gibson’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Wapakoneta.

Gibson, whose most recent assignment has been as an investigator at Allen Correctional Institution, has taken a leave of absence because of his arrest, said Sgt. Richard Reeder, a spokesman for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.  

The Waynesfield Police Department made the arrest, Reeder said. Reeder did not have further details on the arrest.

Waynesfield Police Chief Nathan Motter said he stopped Gibson at 12:24 a.m. Sunday in the 16000 block of state Route 196. Gibson’s vehicle drifted left of center at least twice, he said.

Motter noticed several signs of alcohol and asked Gibson to take a breath test, which Gibson refused, Motter said.

“There were multiple reasons that led me to believe he was intoxicated,” he said.

Motter said Gibson was cooperative during the arrest but he declined to discuss further details citing the pending case. He said Gibson was off duty at the time and in a personal vehicle.

Motter called the state patrol to assist in the arrest, he said.

Besides the court case, the patrol will launch its own investigation into the incident and into whether Gibson violated any patrol rules, Reeder said.

Gibson was named the 2002 trooper of the year at the patrol’s Lima post. He was chosen based on leadership, professional ethics and enthusiastic work attitude. Mothers Against Drunk Driving honored Gibson in 1997 for the most drunken-driving arrests by a Lima post trooper.

Gibson joined the patrol in May 1990. He started at the Defiance post and transferred to the Lima Post in February 1992.