Staff Reports

A Seymour police officer arrested earlier this month in Columbus for operating a vehicle while intoxicated will return to duty after a 30-day suspension.

Police Chief Bryant Lucas requested the Seymour Board of Public Works and Safety allow Detective Brian Christopher Franklin to come back to work beginning Sept. 10.

The board voted 2-0 approving Franklin’s return. Board member Dave Earley was absent from the meeting.

Franklin has been on unpaid administrative leave since the Aug. 8 incident.

According to police reports, Franklin, 51, was pulled over by Columbus police at 11:10 p.m. on Jonesville Road near the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds after a report came in about a possible intoxicated driver.

While speaking with Franklin, officers noted his speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, said Lt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.

Officers administered several field sobriety tests to Franklin before transporting him to the police station for a certified breathalyzer test, which registered 0.11%.

At that time, he was placed under arrest, Harris said.

Franklin was later released from the Bartholomew County Jail in Columbus on $2,500 bond.

Bryant said it was Franklin’s first arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated in the detective’s 27 years of working for the Seymour Police Department.