Giesige
J Swygart/The Lima News
OTTAWA — A detective with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office is awaiting departmental disciplinary action after being cited earlier this month for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
According to Putnam County Sheriff Brian Siefker, Detective Aaron Giesige, 52, was stopped by the Ohio State Highway Patrol at 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 17 in Defiance County for failure to use his turn signal. He subsequently refused to take a field sobriety test and was charged with OVI. By refusing the sobriety test Giesige is subject to an automatic year-long suspension of his driving privileges.
Giesige is a resident of Defiance County. An arraignment hearing was held in Defiance Municipal Court on Feb. 23, during which time a written plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. The case is set for pre-trial at 9:15 a.m. on March 7.
Siefker said Giesige waived his right to a departmental pre-disciplinary hearing on Monday and “will probably get some time off” as a result of his OVI citation. The sheriff said he alone will determine what type of discipline is appropriate but has not yet made that decision.
“He was honest with me; he called me the next morning (after receiving his citation) and told me what happened. We’re dealing with it,” Siefker said Tuesday morning.
The sheriff said Giesige is currently “getting rides” from other officers to conduct investigations and is “doing a lot of interviews from the office.”
