NEWS

City attorney Brian Gernert guilty of drunk driving

Bucyrus law director scheduled for probation hearing on Aug. 16

Zach Tuggle
Mansfield News Journal
Brian Gernert, Bucyrus' interim city law director

Brian Gernert pled guilty last week to operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

The Bucyrus Law Director has a probation hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 16, according to Crawford County Municipal Court records.

Gernert declined to comment for this article.

He was sentenced Aug. 2 to 180 days in jail with 177 of them suspended, according to court records. His driver's license was forfeited until May 28, 2023.

Gernert was arrested in May of this year after police were notified that a motorist had struck a speaker box while going through the drive-thru of the downtown Wendy's store.

He was later found by sheriff's deputies and arrested outside of the city's limits, according to an incident sheet from the Crawford County Sheriff's Office.

Another motorist had called dispatchers because he was following a vehicle believed to be Gernert's and was "worried that he is going to kill someone or himself," the dispatcher's log reads.

The caller told deputies that the vehicle had struck two utility poles — deputies determined the poles could wait for morning to be repaired.

The vehicle pulled over along Lincoln Highway, "about a mile outside of town."

The incident sheet stated that deputies seized an open container from the vehicle.

Gernert had previously been arrested in the early morning hours of Aug. 28, 2021, inside his law office at 111 W. Rensselaer St. in Bucyrus, according to records provided by Bucyrus Police Chief Neil Assenheimer.

Despite those pending charges, Gernert was appointed as law director in October 2021.

Gernert pleaded guilty Oct. 14, 2021, to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct, according to Crawford County Municipal Court Records.

He told the Telegraph-Forum then that he would no longer attempt to face mental health issues alone.

"I have sought help from professionals trained to help people dealing with similar mental health issues," Gernert said last October. "I have truly been blessed with the love and support of so many."

ztuggle@gannett.com

419-564-3508

Twitter: @zachtuggle