Thursday, September 25, 1997Blake says he passed sobriety test
BY GEOFF HOBSON and BETH MENGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jeff Blake |
But Addyston Police Chief Michael Ritter said he is investigating why Officer Michael Schmidt drove the quarterback to his home in Cincinnati's East End after stopping Blake for speeding.
Officer Schmidt, who has worked part time with the department for four years, stopped Blake at 2:36 a.m. Monday for speeding, Chief Ritter said. The officer clocked Blake at 46 mph in a 25 mph zone on Main Street. Blake was not cited for speeding, Chief Ritter said.
When asked whether Blake got a break, Chief Ritter replied: "He got a free ride, I can tell you that."
Jeff Blake Chief Ritter said he met with Officer Schmidt on Tuesday afternoon but had not had a chance to digest his entire statement. He declined to say why the officer took Blake home. Chief Ritter said that departmental rules were violated and that Officer Schmidt could face disciplinary charges.
Officer Schmidt is scheduled to report to work Friday afternoon. Blake said he had been drinking earlier, "but I had eaten so many times since then. On the plane. At McDonald's. I was fine. I had no problem."
Blake reiterated the story he gave to Bengals General Manager Mike Brown on Tuesday in his first comments about the incident, which happened after the Bengals returned from their 38-20 loss in Denver on Sunday.
"I was leaving (backup quarterback) Erik Wilhelm's house, and I got lost," said Blake of anapartment building near the Bengals' Lower Price Hill practice facility. "I'm not familiar with the Western Hills area. I went to a dead end stop, and I was turning around too quick. The cop pulled me over. We talked for a second. He offered to give me a ride home. I don't know why (the officer asked). I wasn't going to stand there and argue with him."
Blake and Wilhelm said Blake was fine to drive. The officer, Blake said, "told me to do some things. He said, 'Well, you're fine.' I still explained to him I was lost and needed directions, and that's when he offered to drive me home.
"Sometimes you try to do the right thing, and it seems like you do the wrong thing."
Blake said he figured it was no problem to leave his car in Addyston because someone could drop him off there Monday.
"If he had a perception that I was intoxicated or couldn't drive, he would have made me blow into the thing or whatever," Blake said of the officer.
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