Driver allegedly impaired in Blanchester crash

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BLANCHESTER — A suspect in a vehicle accident here had prior vehicle convictions and suspended license.

According to a release from Blanchester Police Chief Scott Reinbolt, the BPD charged Karen Figart, 44, for an alleged O.V.I. after responding to a traffic accident at around 6 p.m. Wednesday around Bourbon and Mill Streets. Blanchester Emergency Medical Service and the Blanchester-Marion Township Fire Department also responded.

“Ptl. Kristen Jeffers arrived and found that a car driven by Karen Figart had struck a parked car on Bourbon Street,” said Reinbolt.

Witnesses suggested to Jeffers that Figart was impaired by “some drug.” One witness stated Figart “continued to rev the engine of her car after striking the parked car as if she were still driving down the street.”

The release states Figart performed poorly on field sobriety tests, was arrested for OVI and taken to the Blanchester police station, where she refused further testing. A check of Ohio BMV records indicated that Figar was driving on a suspended driver’s license, according to Reinbolt.

“She also has four prior convictions for Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol or a Drug of Abuse: in Clermont County in 1996 and 2000, in 2008 in Indiana, and in January 2021 in the Clinton County Municipal Court,” he said.

Figart, of Midland, was issued a summons requiring her appearance in the Clinton County Municipal Court to answer the OVI charge and was released to a sober relative.

Reinbolt said Jeffers was assisted at the scene by the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office.

This photo depicts the cars involved in the crash.
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/04/web1_P1050246.jpgThis photo depicts the cars involved in the crash. Courtesy photos

https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/04/web1_P1050247c.jpgCourtesy photos

By John Hamilton

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Reach John Hamilton at 937-382-2574.

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