By Tom Sheehan
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio)
Copyright 2007 The Columbus Dispatch
All Rights Reserved
MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio — Muskingum County Sheriff Bob Stephenson fired a deputy yesterday for mishandling the traffic stop of a motorist, possibly impaired by alcohol, who died minutes later in a wreck.
Former Deputy Phillip Michel, who was suspended with pay last week, should not have allowed Columbus Fire Capt. Marquis Phillips to drive after stopping him about 9:50 p.m. April 5, the sheriff said.
Ten minutes later, Phillips crashed his sport-utility vehicle near Frazeysburg and was killed. Preliminary toxicology results show that Phillips’ blood-alcohol level exceeded 0.08 percent, the minimum at which a person is considered to be driving drunk.
Both Stephenson and Chief Deputy Bryan Hoover would not divulge Phillips’ blood-alcohol level. Michel had stopped Phillips, 35, for crossing the center line several times on Raiders Road, about 50 miles east of Columbus.
Michel “should have done something, take his keys, arrest him or have someone come and get him,” Stephenson said. “I just felt with everything explained to me, it was in the best interests (of everyone) to handle it in this manner.”
Michel, a deputy since February 2005, might have been swayed to let Phillips go because he told him he was a fire captain and had a brother in law enforcement, Hoover said.
Phillips told Michel he had two beers at a Zanesville bar, Hoover said. Michel also observed Phillips call his brother to come and get him, Hoover said, but he then drove off after the deputy left.
Michel, who has seven days in which to file a union grievance to try to get his job back, could not be reached for comment yesterday. Battalion Chief Doug Smith, spokesman for the Columbus Fire Division, declined to comment.
Phillips was promoted to captain on Feb. 27. He became a firefighter in 1991 and was promoted to lieutenant about five years ago, officials said.