Lorain police officer charged with DUI

A Lorain police officer is on modified assignment after he was accused of crashing his car while intoxicated in Wellington late last month. James Connell, 34, was charged with DUI, failure to control, child endangering and lack of child restraints after a crash on Peck-Wadsworth Road in Wellington Township on Feb. 26. According to the State Highway Patrol report, Connell was driving a 2017 Ford F-150 truck east on Peck-Wadsworth Road around 6:40 p.m. when he lost control, veering off the right side of the road and hitting a ditch before rolling the truck onto its side. Connell and his minor son, who was in the back seat, were not seriously injured, though the child was transported to Mercy Allen as a precaution. Connell's eyes were reportedly bloodshot and glassy and his breath smelled of alcohol. He initially told troopers he had "a couple" of drinks, but changed to "one beer around 3 p.m." When asked if he was wearing a seat belt, he told troopers he "pleads the fifth" but that both him and his son were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. He told troopers he was coming from his house at the time of the crash, and then declined to answer further questions. Lorain police Chief Jim McCann said Connell is on modified assignment, precluding him from patrols, while the Office of Professional Standards investigates. If it finds Connell has violated administrative standards within the department, potential charges will go through the employee review board. This is not the first time Connell has been in court. In 2017, he spent five days in jail after pleading no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct persisting, stemming from a domestic violence charge that was amended in Lorain Municipal Court. At that time, he was sentenced to three years of probation and was required to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings twice a week. He was able to remain on the police force under a last-chance agreement for the duration of his probation — which ran out in July 2020. Prior to that, he had run-ins with fellow Lorain officers while intoxicated in 2014, in which he was never charged, according to previous reporting. According to Oberlin Municipal Court records, Connell has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor DUI and two minor misdemeanors for no child restraints and failure to control. His next court date is April 7.