School treasurer charged with DUI

10/20/2005

BOWLING GREEN A pretrial hearing has been set in Bowling Green Municipal Court for the treasurer of the Eastwood Local School District, who was charged last week with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

David Michel, 54, of Pemberville, Ohio, will appear in the court at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 28.

While his case is pending, he has been granted occupational driving privileges and will have to use yellow license plates with red numbers.

Mr. Michel was arrested just after 1 a.m. Oct. 9 when a Wood County sheriff s deputy saw him weaving across both the center and edge lines while eastbound on Sugar Ridge Road, according to a sheriff s office report.

After complying with field sobriety tests, he was cited for DUI, prohibited alcohol content, and a marked lanes violation.

According to the report, the deputy searched Mr. Michel s vehicle and found eight money bags that contained large sums of cash. Mr. Michel told the deputy they were deposits from Eastwood schools, and asked that the money be deposited at a bank in Pemberville.

The deputy made the night deposit for Mr. Michel before taking him to the Wood County Justice Center, where a breath test showed his blood-alcohol content was 0.177 percent. He then was released to a family member, the report said. The legal limit for a motorist in Ohio is 0.08 percent.

Mr. Michel did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Denis Helm, school board president, said it was not unusual for Mr. Michel to have school deposits with him on a weekend.

He said the board discussed the matter in a closed-door executive session at its meeting Monday, but the incident would not affect Mr. Michel s position with the school district.