Posted on 04/21/2008 11:11:39 AM PDT by freespirited
Columbus -- One of Attorney General Marc Dann's top managers, who is accused of sexual harassment, has a history of problems with cars and alcohol, including a drunken driving arrest months before he was hired and a smashed state car after.
Dann knew about the arrest because, according to State Highway Patrol records, he was the one who picked Anthony Gutierrez up at 2:30 in the morning at the Canfield post after Gutierrez blew a .149 on a blood-alcohol test nearly twice the legal limit.
The trooper who pulled him over on Sept. 22, 2006, for going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit said Gutierrez was glassy-eyed, slurring his words and stumbled when asked to walk a straight line.
Still, five months later, in February 2007, Dann put Gutierrez, a close friend and neighbor from the Youngstown area, in charge of general services, including the office's fleet of vehicles.
Gutierrez, 50, who also owed thousands in back state and federal taxes before he got the job, was among Dann's first hires after taking office in January 2007. He moved in with Dann at an apartment Dann rented in Columbus.
Dann did not return calls Thursday. His spokesman, Ted Hart, acknowledged that Dann was aware of Gutierrez's arrest but said the charge to which Gutierrez eventually pleaded no contest --reckless operation-- didn't disqualify him from being hired.
"They weren't going to treat Mr. Gutierrez any different than anyone else in terms of not hiring him," Hart said.
As part of his sentence for reckless operation, Gutierrez ' license was suspended until March 20, 2007. He was assigned a state vehicle in April.
Gutierrez did not disclose the drunken-driving arrest on portions of the application that asked about recent traffic citations or things that could be an embarrassment to the state.
The September 2006 arrest wasn't Gutierrez's first drunken-driving case. He was convicted of operating a vehicle while impaired after pleading no contest to the charge in Girard Municipal Court in 1984, according to his driving record at the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Neither Guiterrez nor his attorney returned telephone calls seeking comment.
After about a year on the job, Gutierrez has been accused of sexual harassment and, separately, has not yet explained extensive damage to a state vehicle he had assigned to himself.
He was suspended with pay from his $87,500-a-year state job earlier this month, during an internal investigation into the harassment claims.
Two women say Gutierrez pressured them for sex while working for him in Dann's office.
One of the women says Gutierrez pressured her to go out drinking on Sept. 10, 2007. She says she and Gutierrez eventually went to the apartment shared by Dann and Gutierrez. Dann was there with his scheduler, Jessica Utovich.
The accuser said she was drunk and fell asleep. When she awoke, she said, her pants were unbuttoned and Guiterrez was next to her in his underwear.
An attorney for the woman said Thursday that, as a result of the incident, she will file a criminal complaint today with Columbus police.
Attorney Mark C. Collins said attempted sexual battery or attempted gross sexual imposition charges could arise from the allegation, though ultimately that decision will be up to police and prosecutors.
"It's going to be her statement of what happened that evening and the conversations that she and Mr. Gutierrez had about it afterwards, but I don't want to go any further than that," Collins said.
The same woman says in her complaint that weeks later, Gutierrez fell asleep drunk at the wheel of a state-issued Chevy Suburban and struck a guardrail. She told an investigator that Gutierrez showed up at work the next morning, reeking of booze and with vomit caked on his nose.
As director of general services, Gutierrez oversaw the office's fleet of state vehicles and assigned himself whichever ride he wanted to drive.
He had a penchant for hulking SUVs, including a black Chevy Suburban that arrived at the office's repair shop at the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation on Oct. 10, 2007, with extensive damage to both sides.
Repairs were needed to the fender, front door, back door, and rear panel on the right side, and back door and rear panel on the left side.
Gutierrez traded the damaged car in for a new one the same day, Hart said.
Hart added that the attorney general's office cannot find evidence that Gutierrez ever reported the damage to the vehicle or explained what happened, as required.
"There is supposed to be paperwork," Hart said. "But what I'm telling you is we can't find it. We're still looking."
Dann, asked in an earlier interview Wednesday whether Gutierrez had ever damaged a state car, said: "I don't know. I have no personal knowledge of that."
If he were in an accident, Gutierrez would have been required to report it to the Department of Administrative Services, whose risk management office carries insurance on all state vehicles.
There is no report from the attorney general's office involving that vehicle, said DAS spokesman Ron Sylvester.
The damaged Suburban got repaired and took on a new life.
It was converted by Dann into his Sunshine Express, named after Ohio's open records law. The black SUV with flames painted on the sides and an office logo on each front door is used by staffers as an eye-catching promotional tool for the office.
Are you sure he's a democrat? I didn't see anything in the article to confirm it. < /sarc>
It doesn’t say explicitly that they were demcRATS. ;-)
Can the drive-by media become any more corrupt?
Karl, how many republicans do you know that live in Youngstown?
This is a joke by the way...
In the city limits, there might be 6 of them. In the county it votes about 70 D to 30 R.
LOL!
I wonder if this Anthony Gutierrez owns a black oldsmobile??? Or rents any cottages on Martha Vineyard?
I was going to say 1, the guy everyone else works for.
LOL.
WinH are we going to demand that those "suspended with pay pending investigation" PAY BACK all monies received during said suspension IF the investigation upholds the charges?
IOW, make the pay during suspension contingent upon innocence.
I am sick and tired of public officials receiving & RETAINING pay & benefits for weeks, month, or in some cases, even YEARS, before their firings are upheld. If guilty, they are NOT entitled to an extended vacation with pay & benefits.
lol!
And I am sick of reading about someone getting a high level govt job when he owed the state 5K in income tax (and the feds even more). Unbelievable, dont they do a background check in OH? They would have discovered his debts and rap sheet, which he falsified. That alone should be grounds for immediate termination--not suspension with pay.
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