After a driver convicted of OVWI tested with a high BAC during his first probation meeting then got into a truck to drive away, courthouse security personnel responded to make the stop and remove the driver from the truck.

Corey William Knopp, 41, was arrested by Lt. Marvin Holt of the Bloomfield Police Department on Wednesday, September 28, after Knopp was detained by a courthouse security officer. Knopp was booked in at 1:27 p.m. He has since posted bond and been released from jail.

Lt. Holt was dispatched to the Greene County Courthouse to assist with an intoxicated man around 11:58 a.m. that Wednesday, but the allegedly intoxicated man had already been detained by Courthouse Security personnel.

Corey Knopp was the allegedly intoxicated man. Lt. Holt said Knopp was convicted in late July of operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Greene County and he had gone to his first probation meeting at the Probation Department in the Greene County Courthouse.

At the Probation Department, Probation Officer Patrick Hillenburg administered a test with a portable breathylizer and reported Knopp had a BAC of .178.

Officer Hillenburg asked Knopp if he was driving and Knopp allegedly told Officer Hillenburg that his dad was driving and was outside waiting on him, but when Knopp left the courthouse, Courthouse Security personnel were watching via their security cameras and said they saw Knopp get into a pickup truck on the south side of the courthouse intending to drive away. Knopp was driving. There was no dad waiting on him.

Courthouse Security personnel were able to get outside in time to stop Knopp from driving away. They removed Knopp from the vehicle. Courthouse Security Officer John Scherer placed Knopp in handcuffs and Knopp was escorted back into the courthouse to wait until he was placed in Lt. Holt’s custody for transport to jail.

When Lt. Holt arrived on the scene, Knopp’s tan Ford F150 was parked in the middle of the road on East Spring Street facing north. The truck was blocking two lanes of traffic and was unattended.  Babcock’s Towing was contacted to impound Knopp’s vehicle.

Lt. Holt reported that at the sheriff’s department, Knopp failed standard field sobriety testing then was given a certified chemical breath test. Knopp tested at .144. The legal limit is .08.

Knopp is now facing preliminary charges of:

• Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor,

• Operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent to at least .08 but less than .15, a Class C misdemeanor,

• Operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony, and

• Operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony.

His initial hearing is set for October 19.