Oregon sergeant accused of DUI still on job

3/21/2013

An Oregon police officer who was arrested in East Toledo for driving under the influence of alcohol will stay on the job pending an administrative investigation into the incident, Police Chief Mike Navarre said.

Sgt. Antonio Castillo, 44, of Perrysburg Township, will be arraigned Friday in Toledo Municipal Court. He was arrested early Sunday on Miami Street near the entrance ramp to southbound I-75 after a state trooper saw him driving erratically.

He refused a Breathalyzer test after he was stopped about 2:15 a.m., court records state. In Ohio, refusing a Breathalyzer results in suspension of a driver’s license for one year.

Chief Navarre said a report obtained by Oregon police for the administrative investigation said Trooper Nathan Henn observed Sergeant Castillo driving south on Miami in excess of the 45 mph speed limit and weaving erratically. He said Sergeant Castillo refused field sobriety tests.

Chief Navarre said he had the option of placing Sergeant Castillo on paid administrative leave but instead chose to have him continue working while the case proceeds through court.

“When something like this happens, where an officer is arrested and charged with a criminal offense, we initiate a departmental investigation, which was done immediately,” he said. “We are waiting to see what happens with this in court and let it come to a conclusion.”

He said Sergeant Castillo cannot drive department vehicles and must find transportation to work.

“We had to make the decision on whether or not to allow him to continue to work or relieve him of his duties. I made the decision to allow him to continue to work,” Chief Navarre said.

Sergeant Castillo’s duties include supervising officers in the Drug Abuse Resistance Enforcement and School Resource programs. A member of the department since 1991, he also is in charge of officer training and the Special Response Team.

Chief Navarre said the suspension of his driver’s license will have an impact on his employment because his duties call for him to drive a vehicle.

“It does put us at a little bit of a disadvantage. But we can work around that,” he said.

In an unrelated matter, Sergeant Castillo’s wife, Barbara Castillo, 31, resigned Tuesday from the Ohio Highway Patrol after receiving her second drunken driving conviction.

She had been on leave from her job as a dispatcher at the Findlay post since her arrest in January for driving under the influence in Rossford.

She pleaded guilty in Perrysburg Municipal Court on Feb. 8 to driving under the influence and was sentenced to four days in the Wood County Justice Center. She served the sentence last week.

She was arrested about 2:45 a.m. Jan. 6 after a Rossford police officer clocked her driving in excess of 100 mph on I-75 near Buck Road, reports indicate. She refused to take the Breathalyzer test.

She was convicted in 2010 in Perrysburg Municipal Court for driving under the influence. The conviction stems from March 9, 2010, when a Perrysburg police officer paced her driving about 90 mph on I-475 near the State Rt. 25 exit.

Lt. Anne Ralston, of the patrol’s public affairs office, said Mrs. Castillo used a combination of personal time and unpaid leave during her two-month absence from her job.

She had been with the patrol since 2004.

Contact Mark Reiter at: markreiter@theblade.com or 419-724-6199.