Hollie Strano yesterday pleaded guilty to a single OVI charge and was handed a year-long license suspension, a $375 fine plus court costs, and ordered to participate in six-day driver intervention program by Cuyahoga Falls Mayor's Court Magistrate Alan Medvick.
Strano avoided jail time and the other two charges , a marked lane violation and a "super" DUI charge given her 0.244 BAC at the time of her arrest, were dropped.
The WKYC anchor on Thanksgiving evening crashed her SUV while driving 70 mph in a 35 mph zone — jumping a guardrail, hitting a utility pole, taking out a fire hydrant, and flipping her car — as a Cuyahoga Falls police officer followed her with his lights on. A citizen had called police dispatch to alert them to a possible drunk driver.
Strano, as the officer noted in bodycam video, was lucky to have not been seriously hurt given the severity of the crash, and lucky to have caused only physical damage to property. (Police and fire had to shut down Akron Peninsula Rd. because of the downed wire, which was on the road and in water flooding from the broken fire hydrant.)
Footage from the police department showed Strano cooperating with officers. She asked a couple of times if there was anything they could do to avoid an arrest, and remarked multiple times that she was "on the news." The latter statement, it appears from the video, wasn't an attempt to use her celebrity to escape a charge but rather a response, knowing the possible professional and personal repurcussions awaiting afterward, to officers telling her everything was going to be okay.
Strano can apply for work-related driving privileges later this month. She was represented in the case by Ian Friedman.
WKYC GM Micki Byrnes declined to comment when reached by Scene other than to say it was a "personnel matter." Strano remains off air.
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Hollie Strano Pleads Guilty to DUI Charge, Avoids Jail Time
She was given a license suspension and fine
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About The Author
Vince Grzegorek
Vince Grzegorek has been with Scene since 2007 and editor-in-chief since 2012. He previously worked at Discount Drug Mart and Texas Roadhouse.
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