Pennsylvania: West Lampter Township Officer Joseph W. Eisenhour who admitted binge drinking at police picnic before crashing into construction site is ordered back to work after being fired

Joseph  W. Eisenhour West Lampeter Township Police

Joseph W. Eisenhour West Lampeter Township Police

 

From Lancaster Online

A West Lampeter Township Police officer charged with drunken driving after crashing on the way home from a police picnic last summer has returned to the force, officials say.

State police on Aug. 27 charged Joseph W. Eisenhour, 48, with DUI, careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident in the Aug. 22 incident, according to an arrest affidavit.

Eisenhour, 48, struck a concrete barrier and orange barrels in a construction zone in the 900 block of South Prince Street in Lancaster Township, but continued to drive, an arrest affidavit shows. The vehicle eventually broke down.

Eisenhour had a blood-alcohol level of .212 percent, more than twice the state’s legal limit for drivers, soon after the crash, police reported.

West Lampeter Township at first put Eisenhour on administrative leave with pay, but on Sept. 19 fired him as a patrolman, township Manager Dee Dee McGuire said.

Eisenhour appealed his firing and meanwhile, got accepted into the county’s one-year accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) program for first-time offenders. He was subjected to mandatory alcohol evaluations and outpatient treatment sessions.

An arbitration hearing on his appeal was held Jan. 29 and arbitrator William W. Lowe  in February ordered the township to reinstate Eisenhour, McGuire said. Eisenhour began serving again on the West Lampeter force April 1, she said.

“He deserves to be back on the force,” said defense attorney Robert Beyer, who represents Eisenhour. He declined further comment.

An attempt to reach Eisenhour for comment failed.

LNP obtained the following information from arbitration award documents:  …MORE