OH man busted for 10th OVI offense

DEFIANCE, OHIO (WANE) – A Hicksville man was arrested for the tenth time for driving under the influence when police found him at his mother’s home after crashing into a ditch Sunday.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ralph J. Gipple, 46, of Hicksville, was headed south on Hicksville-Edgerton Road when he lost control and went off the right side of the road and into a ditch.

After crashing, the patrol officers said Gipple left the scene on foot.

K9 units were able to track Gipple to his mother’s home, where officers found him intoxicated and injured from the crash.

After being treated at Hicksville Hospital, Gipple was taken to the Corrections Center of Northeast Ohio and charged with felony driving while under the influence.

An Ohio State Highway Patrol review of Gipple’s driving record revealed seven prior OVI convictions in Ohio, one in Indiana and one in Florida.

The current charge makes it his sixth OVI within the past 20 years, a felony in the State of Ohio.

Gipple is scheduled to appear in Defiance Municipal Court Monday at 8:15 a.m.