From The Athens News
Original publication date: Nov. 15

Athens County, Ohio — The former Athens County 911 dispatcher who was arrested for allegedly being drunk and having a gun in his vehicle at the Albany Independent Fair pleaded guilty to a reduced charge earlier this month.

Warren G. Ferguson, 45, of New Marshfield, resigned from his dispatching job after he was arrested Sept. 28 by an Athens County Sheriff’s officer.

He had been facing a charge of having a weapon while intoxicated. On Nov. 5, he entered a plea in Athens County Municipal Court to a lower charge of improperly transporting a weapon. He was fined $250 and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence.

Judge William A. Grim also ordered Ferguson not to have a concealed-carry permit during his two-year probationary period, to forfeit to the county the .40-caliber handgun and ammunition he had with him Sept. 28, and to undergo drug/alcohol counseling.

A complaint by a county sheriff’s deputy indicates that Ferguson was found parked in his truck at the Albany Fairgrounds with a strong odor of alcoholic beverage about his person and slurred speech.

The officer asked Ferguson to exit his vehicle, the complaint stated, and when he asked Ferguson whether he had any weapons in his truck, Ferguson replied that there might be one under an armrest.

The officer then checked in the vehicle and found a loaded gun and extra magazines for the weapon, the complaint said.

Ferguson had earlier lost his job in November 2005, after he allegedly came into work apparently intoxicated and smelling of alcohol, and verbally abused a female co-worker.

An arbitrator ordered the county to reinstate Ferguson, ruling that he was a “troubled employee,” who was experiencing serious difficulties in his life, and using alcohol and prescription painkillers.

The county at first ignored the arbitrator’s decision in Ferguson’s favor, which triggered a lawsuit by the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, a police union. The OPBA obtained a court order to get Ferguson his job back.

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