Celina councilor arrested for OVI

CELINA - Celina City Councilman Stephen Schulte was arrested for OVI in Celina on Sunday evening.

According to a Celina Police Department report, after his arrest Schulte refused a breathalyzer test at the Mercer County Adult Detention Center. He was booked into the jail at 8:38 p.m. Sunday night and released at approximately 10 p.m.

At about 7:42 p.m. Sunday, Celina dispatch received a call from an off-duty Auglaize County Sheriff's Office deputy. The deputy and an off-duty St. Marys police officer stated they were at Northmoor Golf Course and had encountered two intoxicated males, according to a Celina Police Department report.

After the deputy observed the two men get into the driver's seats of their vehicles, he reportedly identified himself and informed them they should not be driving.

"He then stated the males became verbally hostile towards them before going into the club house," Celina Pat. Seth Heindel's report states. "The deputy then documented the vehicle registration numbers and descriptions before leaving the area."

Shortly afterward, Heindel observed a Chevrolet truck that matched the description and registration number reported at the intersection of State Route 703 and East Market Street. He noted that another vehicle was between his cruiser and the truck as they were stopped in the turn lane of State Route 703. Heindel followed the vehicles as they turned westbound onto East Market Street.

At one point, Heindel observed the truck "straddling the white line as it was taking up both west bound lanes of travel."

When the vehicles turned left onto South Enterprise Street, Heindel initiated his overhead lights and the truck eventually came to a stop in the parking lot of the Celina Moose Lodge. He then made contact with Schulte who reportedly said he had come from the golf course and was a city council member.

According to the report, Heindel noted a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from the truck and could see that Schulte's eyes were watery.

"I then asked how much he had to drink tonight and he stated he had one at the golf course," Heindel wrote. "I observed his speech to be slurred. I then requested he perform Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and he complied. As he exited his vehicle, I observed his (sic) to be unsteady on his feet."

Schulte struggled through a series field sobriety tests, according to the report. While positioning Schulte for the one leg stand test, Schulte had difficulty listening to instruction and "then stated he was unable to perform the test."

"I then placed him under arrest for OVI," Heindel wrote. "As I was placing him in handcuffs, he stated 'you do understand you're arresting a city council member right'. I informed him I'm just doing my job. I then placed him in the rear of my cruiser. He then states 'I got a lot of friends in this city buddy so whatever'. I again informed him I'm doing my job."

Heindel wrote that he transported Schulte to the Mercer County Adult Detention Facility. Schulte reportedly refused to provide a breath sample.

Heindel later issued Schulte a citation for OVI, and failure to maintain. Schulte was then booked into jail.

Schulte is scheduled to appear for a hearing in Celina Municipal Court on Oct. 5

Schulte, 63, is a Republican. He represents Ward 1 on city council, and is currently serving the first year of his four-year term.

Messages left with Schulte seeking comment were not returned.