A Republican state lawmaker from southwest Ohio has issued a statement about his arrest on drunk driving and weapons charges over the weekend – and so has the House Speaker.
Rep. Wes Retherford of Hamilton said in a statement he’ll miss committee hearings and session for the rest of the week, after allegedly passing out drunk in his running car in a McDonald’s drive thru very early Sunday morning.
Speaker Cliff Rosenberger of Clarksville didn’t have much to say other than he’ll let the process play out and he’s thinking of Retherford and his family.
“It’s not conduct becoming of a member of the Ohio House – I think he knows that. People make mistakes.”
A liquor cabinet in Retherford’s office against Statehouse rules came up in last year’s re-election campaign – he said he’d bought it from a former lawmaker, it was only there temporarily and he had it removed. Retherford is also facing a charge of improperly storing the loaded gun he had in the car.
