MICHIGAN CITY — An Indiana state senator wants to maintain his driving privileges until a drunk driving charge against him is resolved.
District 8 State Sen. Mike Bohacek, a 56-year-old Michiana Shores Republican, has been charged with Class A misdemeanor operating while intoxicated.
He was charged in a summons issued by Porter County Superior Court 6 Judge Jeffrey Thode.
Bohacek is scheduled for an initial court hearing on June 18.
Thode, who agreed on Monday to preside over the case, ruled there was enough probable cause in the evidence to order Bohacek to defend himself against the allegations.
He was asked to hear the case after all judges in LaPorte County recused themselves to avoid any appearance of political impropriety.
The Porter County Prosecutor’s office is trying the case at the request of LaPorte County Prosecutor Sean Fagan for the same reason.
Bohacek’s district includes all of Starke County, much of LaPorte and Marshall counties and a small portion of western St. Joseph County.
His alleged blood alcohol level of 0.283% was more than three times the 0.08 percent limit after he was pulled over by police on Jan. 24 in Michigan City.
Defense Attorney David Payne is asking the judge to allow Bohacek to continue driving until the case is decided.
Under Indiana law, judges in OWI cases have authority to order immediate driver’s license suspensions until the allegations are resolved.
Judges also have the flexibility to allow defendants to keep driving as long as ignition interlock devices are installed on their vehicles.
A driver must blow into the device to start the engine, but the device won’t allow the engine to start if the presence of alcohol is detected in the breath.
In his written motion filed in the case, Payne requested an ignition interlock device for Bohacek, saying a driver’s license suspension would create a “substantial hardship” on him and his family.
The judge has not decided on the request, according to court records.
Bohacek wasn’t charged right away because of a provision in the state constitution that prohibits state lawmakers from being arrested while the Indiana General Assembly is in session except for treason, a felony or breach of peace.
This year’s legislative session that began in early January ended in late April.
Witnesses at Panda Express in the 5200 block of Franklin Street called police and said a man drunkenly stumbled out of the restaurant.
Responding officers were then told by witnesses that the man had driven away in a car with a legislative license plate, according to prosecutors, who report that police soon saw the vehicle turning onto U.S. 20 and stopped him on an accusation of traveling 62 in a 45 miles-per-hour zone.
Police described Bohacek as having red, watery and bloodshot eyes, and when asked if he had been drinking alcohol, Bohacek denied it, telling the officer in slurred speech he was coming back from Indianapolis and was short on sleep, according an affidavit filed with the court.
At one point during the interaction with police, Bohacek began eating food and drinking a beverage while seated in his vehicle but stopped at the direction of the officer, police said.
Police said Bohacek later spilled some of his food and beverage over his shirt and pants before refusing a certified roadside blood alcohol test.
He was taken to a hospital, where a sample of blood was taken from his arm, police said.
Bohacek, who’s been a state senator since November of 2016, told an Indianapolis Star reporter on June 2, “I’m not going to comment on ongoing legal actions.”
Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville) issued the following comment June 2 about the incident: “I was extremely disappointed to hear this news, and I expressed my disappointment to Sen. Bohacek. Our Senate Rules make clear members are to be held to high standards, and this does not meet that standard. Here in Indiana, nobody is above the law. I will be monitoring this case as it goes forward and our legal system does its work, after which I will consider any next steps.”
Indy Star Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: State Sen. Mike Bohacek faces drunk driving charge in Porter County