Park Officer Sentenced to Probation

Grosse Pointe Park Lt. John C. Kretzschmar will serve one year on probation in connection with his November drunken driving arrest. Kretzschmar was sentenced this week in 43rd District Court in Madison Heights.

Kretzschmar pleaded guilty to an amended charge Jan. 31 before Judge Keith Hunt of operating a vehicle while impaired. He was originally charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Both charges are misdemeanors.

The charge was amended to operating a vehicle while visibly impaired, which is a slightly lesser offense carrying fewer points on a driver's record and less driving related restrictions. He also pleaded guilty to a civil infraction related to the crash, failure to stop with assured clear distance. As part of the sentence he will also have a restricted driver's license—imposed by the Secretary of State's office automatically once their office receives notification of the conviction.

An arrest report obtained by Patch shows he had a 0.27 percent blood alcohol content Nov. 16 when he rear-ended another motorist and drove from the scene in Madison Heights. He was arrested a short time later in the parking lot of a hotel, where the struck motorist followed him.

His blood alcohol level was high enough under Michigan law that he could have been charged with the highest level of drunken driving: operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a high blood-alcohol content. Under state law that took effect in October 2010, according to the Secretary of State's office, anyone with a blood alcohol content higher than 0.17 percent would qualify.

Michigan's legal limit is 0.08 percent, which means Kretzschmar was more than three times the legal limit.

During his guilty plea, Kretzschmar told the judge he had beer and whiskey to drink the day of his arrest. Hunt had asked two people who also pleaded guilty in drunken driving cases minutes before Kretzschmar to specify how much alcohol they consumed. He did not require that information from Kretzschmar.

Kretzschmar declined comment upon leaving the courthouse after his plea.

In addition to serving one year on probation, Kretzschmar must also pay $1,800 in court costs and fines. He was given one day of credit for time served in jail.

Kretzschmar has worked for the Grosse Pointe Park Department of Public Safety since Dec. 26, 1985. He was promoted to lieutenant rank in July 1998. Director David Hiller told Patch following Kretzschmar's arrest that he had worked road patrol throughout his time with the department.

Hiller also said following Kretzschmar's arrest that an internal investigation was being completed by Park municipal attorney Dennis Levasseur. Kretzschmar had been pulled off of road patrol following his arrest but officials have not provided Patch with an update on the internal investigation despite repeated requests.

Levasseur verbally acknowledged the request for information at least twice and said he would retrieve and provide Patch with the information but has never done so. He was left another voicemail message today.

Patch also requested repeatedly Kretzschmar's commendation and disciplinary record within the department but officials have not provided such information.

According to a records search performed on Kretzschmar, this is not his first arrest. He has a felony assault and battery conviction in Oakland County's Sixth Circuit Court from 1988. In that case, he was also ordered to serve one year probation.