Mansfield Officer Arrested on OVI Charges Hours After Being Sent Home Intoxicated

A 12-year veteran of the Mansfield Police Department reported for duty intoxicated on the afternoon of August 29 and was sent home. By that evening, Ontario police had arrested him on OVI charges after callers reported a white vehicle swerving across lanes, leaving the roadway, and nearly striking an oncoming car.

The arrest came two days after city officials hosted their first police-community town hall — an event where they pledged transparency and accountability as cornerstones of a new relationship with residents.

Sent home, then behind the wheel

Officer John Meyer arrived for his shift at approximately 1:30 p.m. on August 29, under the influence of alcohol. Police Chief Jason Bammann said Meyer was "immediately relieved him of duty" and placed on administrative leave. Bammann said Meyer was taken to OhioHealth for drug and alcohol testing and that the department's response followed the FOP collective bargaining agreement and city policy.

What the department has not said is whether anyone took steps to keep Meyer from driving after he was relieved.

Around 9 p.m. — roughly seven and a half hours after being sent home — Ontario police received reports of a white vehicle swerving across lanes, traveling without headlights on West 4th Street, Rock Road, and Mabee Road, and nearly hitting an oncoming car. Officers identified Meyer as the driver. He refused field sobriety testing and was arrested.

Ontario Police released body camera footage of the traffic stop showing Meyer being pulled over and taken into custody. Cleveland 19 reported that, when booked, Meyer claimed to be homeless and listed the Mansfield Police Department as his address; Ontario police transported him to the Richland County Jail because they could not verify a residential address.

Meyer faces charges including OVI refusal, open container, marked lanes violation, and failure to signal before changing course. His case was initially heard in Ontario Mayor's Court and is being transferred to Mansfield Municipal Court.

A test for the town hall's promises

Two days before Meyer showed up to work intoxicated, Mayor Jodie Perry, Bammann, and Safety-Service Director Keith Porch sat before residents at Greater Mitchell Chapel A.M.E. Church for a town hall organized by the Mansfield NAACP Branch #3190. Organizers described it as the first in a planned series of forums for direct discussion between residents, police, and city leaders.

The series grew out of fallout from a controversial May 20 traffic stop involving a 68-year-old Black man and broader concerns over police use of force; the NAACP described the meetings as meant to help residents "speak freely in a safe haven." Coverage of the August 27 session called it tense at times, with residents challenging officials directly, but it ended with prayer and what reporters described as an air of hope for continued dialogue.

That hope now has a concrete test case.

Unanswered questions

Both an administrative investigation by the Mansfield Police Department and the criminal case remain active as of early September. Meyer remains on administrative leave.

The department has not publicly disclosed what protocols, if any, exist for ensuring an officer sent home intoxicated does not get behind the wheel. It has not said who made the decision to send Meyer home, whether supervisors took any steps to prevent him from driving, or whether any policy changes will follow.

On August 29, an intoxicated officer left the department and drove dangerously enough to endanger other motorists on Richland County roads. Whether the accountability standards city officials pledged at the town hall two days earlier apply inside their own department is a question Mansfield residents now have cause — and a specific case — to press.