The “chief law enforcement official” of St. Joseph County was arrested Monday evening after he allegedly crashed his vehicle in Lockport Township while he was drunk behind the wheel.
Forty-year-old John McDonough, the prosecuting attorney for St. Joseph County, was arrested on a charge of operating while intoxicated, the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department reported. No one was injured in the crash, which was reported just after 7 p.m. Monday evening, car accident reports state.
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Deputies at about 7 p.m. Monday were dispatched to the 17000 block of Lovers Lane to investigate a single-vehicle crash. They found a black SUV parked alongside a road near a fence that had visible damage, according to car accident reports.
No one besides McDonough was in the vehicle at the time of the crash, authorities said. He was arrested on a charge of operating while intoxicated and was cited with having open intoxicants in the vehicle.
McDonough was transported to the Cass County Jail, according to car accident reports. He was released the following morning and is set to be arraigned May 21, authorities reported.
As St. Joseph County’s prosecuting attorney, McDonough is the “chief law enforcement official for St. Joseph County,” according to the county website. He and three assistant prosecutors oversee criminal charges, juvenile delinquency cases and mental health commitment hearings, among other duties.
County officials have not said whether McDonough will face any work disciplinary actions as a result of the incident. Details of the crash and the events preceding it weren’t included in car accident reports available Tuesday.
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