March 14, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Prosecutor Tim Rutkowski, 989.269.9255
A Huron County jury found a Port Hope man guilty of felony Operating While Intoxicated-Third Offense on March 12, 2024, in the 52nd Circuit Court.
The jury deliberated for about 40 minutes before finding Douglas Harold Plester, 61, guilty of Operating While Intoxicated stemming from a May 2023 traffic stop. Plester had two previous convictions for operating while visibly impaired, a misdemeanor, in Huron County 73B District Court in 2005, elevating the 2023 charge to a felony.
Jurors heard testimony from former Huron County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Kyle Romzek, who pulled Plester over west of Port Hope after he drove past the deputy towing a trailer with no license plate. Romzek is currently a Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Alexander Pahany showed jurors bodycam video of the traffic stop on a wind turbine access road with Plester failing a series of Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and his subsequent arrest.
The prosecution also called Corrections Deputy Charles Stevens to the witness stand. Stevens testified about performing a Datamaster breath test on Plester in the Huron County Jail, which indicated Plester had a breath alcohol content of 0.08 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.
Operating While Intoxicated-Third Offense is a felony punishable by either one to five years in prison or probation with 30 days to one year in jail, a fine of $500 to $5,000, plus six points to the driver’s record.
Judge Gerald M. Prill scheduled sentencing for Plester on Monday, April 29 at 9 a.m. Plester remains free on bond.
