A Columbus officer was indicted for a fatal crash. It wasn't his first drunk-driving incident.
An off-duty Columbus police officer who Franklin County prosecutors say was under the influence of alcohol last year when he hit and killed a woman with his car had previously been found guilty seven years ago in another drunk-driving incident that led to a crash.
Detective Demetris A. Ortega, 50, a 21-year veteran of the Columbus Division of Police, was indicted Wednesday by a Franklin County grand jury on two charges related to the fatal hit and run crash that killed 27-year-old Naimo Mahdi Abdirahman on April 20, 2022.
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Ortega was charged with failure to stop after an accident, which is a felony, as well as a misdemeanor count of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them.
This is not the first case Ortega has faced for driving under the influence. He was temporarily relieved of duty by Columbus police in 2015, when he was found guilty for driving while drunk when he crashed into another car.
At that time, he had a 0.134% blood alcohol content, according to personnel records obtained by The Dispatch through a public records request. He was found guilty and his driver's license was suspended for six months, court records show.
Significantly, the charges brought against Ortega do not include aggravated vehicular homicide or vehicular homicide because investigating Columbus police detectives were “unable to determine to any degree of certainty that Detective Ortega was at fault in causing the crash,” according to a media release from the prosecutor’s office.
According to Ohio law, the minimum sentence for a vehicular homicide is two years prison and a life-long license suspension, whereas the felony charge that Ortega faces for leaving the scene could be as little as nine months in prison and a temporary license suspension, if convicted.
The indictment comes just over a year after a 2022 Kia Sorento reportedly registered to Ortega was identified as the vehicle that hit and killed Abdirahman as she was crossing Morse Road on the city's Northeast Side in the area of Walford Street.
Columbus police had responded around 2:40 a.m. that morning when the crash was reported. Abdirahman was pronounced dead at the scene by medics at 2:48 a.m., police have said.
The case was presented to the Franklin County grand jury, whose members heard testimony that detectives investigating the fatal crash were unable to locate witnesses, video or physical evidence that would help to conclusively identify Abdirahman’s location as she crossed the street.
In the days after the crash, Columbus police issued a media release stating that Ortega — who was initially placed on "relieved of duty" status, or a paid suspension — was believed to be a passenger in his vehicle, which an unidentified woman was driving at the time of the crash. In the media release, police claimed that witnesses had identified a “distraught” male passenger who got out to check on the condition of Abdirahman before returning to the passenger seat so the woman could drive off.
However, Franklin County Prosecutor G. Gary Tyack's office said in a news release Wednesday that in fact, Ortega was driving and failed to stop after the crash. Through the investigation, prosecutors say it was determined that Ortega had been drinking and was under the influence of alcohol at the time the crash occurred.
Ortega is scheduled to appear in court on May 10 for an arraignment, according to Franklin County Common Pleas Court records.
Columbus defense attorney Mark Collins, who is representing Ortega, declined to comment when reached by The Dispatch on Wednesday, other than to say that Ortega will enter a plea of not guilty at the arraignment.
A spokeswoman for the city Division of Police indicated Thursday that Ortega's employment status remains as paid suspension following the indictment.
Brian Steel, executive vice president of Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge #9, said in a statement Thursday morning that the police union respects the grand jury's decision to bring charges.
"This is a tragedy for all involved, and my sincere thoughts and prayers go out to Ms. Naimo Abdirahman, along with the family and friends she left behind," Steel wrote.
Eric Lagatta is a reporter at The Columbus Dispatch covering public safety, with a focus on in-depth coverage of social justice issues and crime trends.
elagatta@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus officer indicted in fatal crash had previous drunk-driving charge
