COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former Columbus Division of Police officer who admitted to being drunk when he hit a woman with his vehicle and driving away was sentenced to a year and a half in prison Friday afternoon.
Demetris Ortega, 51, was sentenced in Franklin County Common Pleas Court and given a sentence of 18 months. He will have his driver’s license suspended for three years and will also be monitored for a maximum of two years after he serves his sentence.
He pleaded guilty to charges of failure to stop after an accident and operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol in September after the deadly crash on April 20, 2022.
Naimo Abdirahman, 30, was crossing the street in the area of Morse Road and Walford Street when she was hit by a vehicle that fled the scene. She was pronounced dead moments later.
On the day of the crash, sources confirmed to 10TV that the car involved belonged to Ortega and that it was not a police cruiser.
Ortega failed to stop after the crash and left the scene. Investigators determined Ortega had been drinking and was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
Ortega was indicted on one felony charge of failure to stop after an accident and a misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them. He was relieved of duty shortly after the crash happened.
He was previously charged and suspended in 2015 after being involved in an OVI crash.
According to the personnel file previously released by the Columbus Division of Police, Ortega was involved in an off-duty crash on Aug. 22, 2015 that led to an OVI charge. He was relieved of duty that day.
According to Franklin County court documents, Ortega took a breathalyzer test and had a blood-alcohol level of .134%.
Ortega pleaded guilty on Feb. 9, 2016, according to records. He was fined $375 and given one-year probation. A specific date when Ortega was reinstated was not listed in his personnel file.