Second incident in three years involves hit-and-run report

By KYLE ODEGARD

Gazette-Times reporter

Corvallis Postmaster John Herrington was arrested for drunk driving early Saturday morning - the second time in less than three years. He also was cited for failure to perform the duties of a driver for reportedly running into a parked car and driving away without stopping.

"I'm ashamed and very embarrassed," Herrington said in a telephone interview on Monday. "I'm taking steps to make sure it never recurs."

According to a Corvallis Police Department report, at about 1:43 a.m. on Saturday, Herrington ran his 1998 Ford Expedition into a parked car in the 300 block of Southwest Jefferson Avenue. He continued driving and crashed his vehicle into a power pole at Southwest Eighth Street and Western Boulevard.

Herrington was booked into the Benton County Jail at 2:20 a.m. His blood-alcohol-content was .18 percent. The legal indicator of intoxication is .08. He was released from the jail at 3 a.m.

Harrington said he didn't know how the arrest would affect his job. He has been the postmaster in Corvallis for about 20 years.

Ron Anderson, customer relations coordinator for the Portland Postal District of the U.S. Postal Service, said Monday in a telephone interview that employee matters such as this were handled on a case-by-case basis.

"At this point in time, since we just became aware of it today, it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on this any further or to speculate on this," Anderson said. "Every situation is different."

In January 2006, Herrington was charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence of intoxicants after he flipped his car on Mountain View Drive.

Herrington said he successfully completed a diversion program for that drunken driving charge. He declined to say what preventative steps he would take, but he said family and friends would be helping him.