AVON — A minor fender-bender Thursday evening led to the arrest of an assistant fire chief after police say he smelled of alcohol.

Assistant Fire Chief Tom Golay, a 22-year veteran of the Avon Fire Department, was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence, police Sgt. Robert Olds said.

Golay was released on a personal bond and is due to appear in Avon Mayor’s Court on Wednesday to answer to the charge.

Golay, who heads the department’s Fire Prevention Bureau and training program, told police he was leaving his home just before 7 p.m. Thursday when a car turning left onto Nagel Road cut him off. Olds said Golay, who was driving a 1993 Chevy Corvette, hit the right rear panel of a 2007 Subaru Tribeca driven by 26-year-old Travis R. French of Avon.

No one was hurt in the crash, including French’s two passengers.

Olds said French, who was turning from Lear Industrial Parkway, was cited for failure to yield.

Olds said when he arrived on the scene, he could smell alcohol on Golay, and French told him he also thought Golay had been drinking.

Patrolman George Ruple took Golay through a series of sobriety tests and he failed them all, Olds said.

“At that point, he was brought back to the police station and offered a Breathalyzer test, which he took,” Olds said. “He blew almost twice the legal limit.”

The test registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.159, Olds said. Ohio law deems a driver impaired at 0.08.

“He was absolutely cooperative throughout the entire process, expressed regret and has no prior driving record whatsoever,” Olds said.

Olds said Golay said he was leaving his home at the time of the crash, and he was not sure where he was heading.

Fire Chief Frank Root III said Golay requested the day off Friday, Monday and Tuesday.

“Assistant Chief Golay admits he has made a mistake, and has been very apologetic,” Root said. “We are in the process of scheduling a disciplinary hearing, and the appropriate disciplinary action will be taken. Golay has been an exemplary employee … and is a well-experienced leader.”

Root said dealing with an employee who gets a drunken driving offense is new for him.

“I have never had to deal with anything like this,” he said. “You hope that nobody would get a DUI. But since the circumstances around the accident are still in question, I will rely on the whole ‘innocent until proven guilty’ notion.”

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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