(Lake Twp., OH) Lake Township's police chief is now backing a state law to allow rural township police to patrol interstate highways.
Police chief Mark Hummer says two recent incidents involving drivers on I-280 are prompting him to ask Lake Township trustees to get behind efforts to pass House BIll 255 in the Ohio legislature.
Police in townships of less than 50-thousand people dont' have the authority to make traffic stops on interstates. The pending bill would change that.
Two weeks ago, a Toledo man was arrested for drunk driving and pot possession after traveling the wrong way on I-280. Last month, a Detroit man was fleeing police after shooting and killing four people in Detroit, but Lake Township police could do nothing to help on the highway. He later died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Buckeye State Sheriff's Association opposes the bill, but Chief Hummer calls that opposition a turf war.