Trooper charged with DUI in pickup truck

He was caught driving motorcycle 97 mph last year

Randy Ludlow
The Columbus Dispatch

PICKAWAY COUNTY, Oh — A State Highway Patrol trooper who last year was caught driving his motorcycle at 97 mph now has been charged with drunken driving after refusing to take a blood-alcohol test.

David K. Mills, 54, of Ashville, also was charged with failure to drive within marked lanes after a Pickaway County deputy sheriff saw the trooper's pickup truck swerving on Walnut Creek Pike on Sunday.

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Mills' driver's license automatically was suspended because he refused to take a breath test, said Sheriff Dwight Radcliff.

Mills was a member of the patrol's motorcycle unit until last summer, when he was removed and reassigned to the Circleville post after another trooper cited him for driving his off-duty motorcycle 97 mph in a 60-mph zone on Rt. 33.

Mills pleaded guilty to the speeding charge in Hocking County Municipal Court and paid $140 in fines and court costs.

The 26-year trooper has taken personal leave since his drunken-driving arrest, a patrol spokesman said.

Mills pleaded not guilty in Circleville Municipal Court on Monday. A home telephone number for Mills could not be located, and court records do not list a lawyer for Mills.

Copyright 2010 The Columbus Dispatch