Ohio Highway Patrol is investigating an accident that involved Trumbull County 911 Director Ernest G. Cook and a skateboarder July 14 in Brookfield’s Valley View neighborhood.
The skateboarder, 17-year-old Michael A. Isco of Crestwood Drive, was eastbound on Sunnydell Drive at about 10:15 p.m., and was attempting to make a right turn onto Crestwood Drive, when he realized he could not make the turn without running into a car driven by Cook, 66, of Wildwood Drive, which was northbound on Crestwood, the patrol said.
Michael jumped off his skateboard and hit the car, which did not stop, the patrol said. Michael’s right foot and leg went under the front, driver-side tire, OHP said.
Cook’s son, Ernest Cook Jr., was following in a separate car and stopped to aid Michael, the patrol said.
Brookfield firefighters took Michael to a local hospital, OHP said.
Brookfield police, who later asked OHP to handle the investigation, arrived first at the scene and went to Cook Sr.’s home, they said. Cook smelled of alcohol and appeared highly intoxicated, so Brookfield police stayed with him to make sure he didn’t drink alcohol before OHP arrived, police said.
Cook Sr., a former Brookfield police chief, told the patrol that he did not know he had hit a pedestrian, OHP said. He said he felt a bump but thought it might have been a dog or a squirrel, OHP said.
There was about a 16-minute gap between the time police were called and they met up with Cook Sr., the patrol said. Cook Sr. told investigators he drank two beers after he returned home, and did not have anything to drink prior to the crash, OHP said.
The patrol ran Cook Sr. through a number of field sobriety tests and told him he “didn’t do too well,” OHP said. Cook Sr. also took a field breath test, registering a blood-alcohol level of 0.125, and a breath test at the Brookfield police station, where a level of 0.148 was registered, OHP said.
It is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or above.
OHP said the crash report will be presented to the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office for review.
Messages left with Cook and the prosecutor’s office were not returned.