Firefighter faces preliminary charges of OWI

The City of Bloomington Board of Public Safety will decide next week how to proceed with a Bloomington firefighter who was arrested twice in three weeks on preliminarily charges of operating a red 1999 Ford Expedition while intoxicated.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 28, an Indiana State Trooper observed James Parrott, 49, driving left of center and nine miles per hour faster than the speed limit on Kirkwood Avenue. His eyes were red and glassy, according to the probable cause affadavit, and he smelled strongly of an alcoholic beverage.

About three weeks later, a Monroe County Sherriff’s deputy stopped Parrott for speeding and disregarding a traffic signal. According to the probable cause affidavit, a chemical test revealed his blood alcohol concentration was twice the legal limit for operating a vehicle.

In both cases, Parrott was preliminarily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a class A misdemeanor.

The Board of Public Safety oversees all non-management personnel within the fire department, Assistant City Attorney Michael Rouker said. When a police officer or firefighter is charged with a crime, he said, the board cannot demote the accused until the trial is finished.

However, the fire department internally decided to take action in the wake of the incident and stripped Parrott of his engineer status. Parrott remains a firefighter, Rouker said.

The board will meet March 27 in City Hall’s Hooker Conference Room. Although a session in the early afternoon will be closed to the public, community members are able to attend the public portion of the meeting at 4:20 p.m.

— Kirsten Clark