Ohio man warns drivers of DUI checkpoint, as police are required to — then they ticketed him 
 
 By Travis Gettys 
 
 Tuesday, June 17, 2014 11:57 EDT 
 
 Police ticketed an Ohio man who warned drivers of a drunken-driving checkpoint – although police departments are required by law to notify the public. 
 
 Doug “Deo” Odolecki stood Friday night on a street corner in Parma with a white poster board marked with black letters reading: “Check point ahead! Turn now!” 
 
 Lt. Brian McCann asked him to remove the portions urging drivers to turn around, reported the Cleveland Plain Dealer, saying it was obstructing police business. 
 
 But Odolecki refused, and he was issued a ticket by Officer James Manzo – who was involved earlier this year in a $40,000 police brutality lawsuit. 
 
 Odolecki said he’s used the same sign for two years without incident, and he said Manzo and McCann “tried to be a civil as they could knowing they were violating someone’s rights.” 
 
 His attorney said he decided to take the case because he supports the police accountability activist movement. 
 
 “The problem here is not the sign in general,” said attorney John Gold. “It’s the part of the sign that instructed drivers to turn that the officers had an issue with. But I think regardless it’s protected speech under the First Amendment.” 
 
 Gold said the citation would have been justified if Odolecki were obstructing an investigation or presenting a safety hazard, but he said his client was standing on a sidewalk and there was no active investigation – just a drunken-driving checkpoint. 
 
 Ohio law requires police officers to alert the public a week before setting up drunken-driving checkpoints, and the exact location, start time, and end times must be made available a few hours before. 
 
 A bill is pending in the state House of Representatives to allow drivers to legally warn others of upcoming checkpoints by flashing their headlights. 
 
 Watch video of the incident posted online by greaterclevelandcopblock: ||||| PARMA, Ohio- Doug 'Deo' Odolecki stood on a street corner Friday night with sign warning drivers about an upcoming drunken-driving checkpoint, but two words on the sign cost him a citation and an upcoming trial. 
 
 The sign, white poster-board with black letters, read: "Check point ahead! Turn now!" 
 
 Parma Police Lt. Brian McCann asked him to remove the part of the sign that told drivers to "turn now" because it was obstructing police business. Odolecki refused and was given a ticket by officer James Manzo, who was involved in a $40,000 police-brutality lawsuit earlier this year. 
 
 McCann and Manzo were out of the office and not available for comment. 
 
 Police must alert residents a week before a drunken-driving checkpoint starts, and a few hours before, the exact location, start and end times must be available to the public. 
 
 A bill pending in the Ohio House of Representatives would make it legal for drivers to warn others of upcoming checkpoints by flashing their headlights. 
 
 
 
 Odolecki said McCann and Manzo "tried to be a civil as they could knowing they were violating someone's rights." 
 
 
 
 He said he was standing on the sidewalk at the intersection of Brookpark Road and State Road, a half mile away from a drunken-driving checkpoint that was at Tuxedo Avenue and State Road. 
 
 Odolecki, who has a record that includes a disorderly conduct conviction from 2013, said he used the same sign for two years, and officers never had a problem with it until Friday night. He warned drivers about the checkpoint from 9 p.m. until 10 p.m., when McCann approached him about the sign. 
 
 
 
 His attorney, John Gold of Sandusky, said he decided to take the case, pro bono, because he supports what Odolecki does. 
 
 
 
 "I support the police accountability activist movement," Gold said. "Mr. Odolecki's case is interesting because it's an unsettled area of law and the incident violates civil rights." 
 
 
 
 He said if his client was obstructing an investigation or causing a hazardous situation, such as standing in the middle of the road, then the officers would have been justified. However, he said Odolecki was standing on the sidewalk, and there was no active investigation, just a drunken-driving checkpoint. 
 
 
 
 "The problem here is not the sign in general. It's the part of the sign that instructed drivers to turn that the officers had an issue with," Gold said. "But I think regardless it's protected speech under the First Amendment." 
 
 Odolecki said he'll be back warning drivers the next time there is a checkpoint. 
 
 Check out the video below for Odolecki's interaction with McCann and Manzo. See 20 seconds to 2:40 and 14:39 to 16 minutes.
– An Ohio man warning drivers about a looming DUI checkpoint would have avoided a ticket if not for the last two words on his sign, reports Raw Story. "Turn now!" Doug "Deo" Odolecki got the citation Friday night while standing on a street corner with his sign that began, "Check point ahead!" Police, who are obligated to make such checkpoints public in Ohio, were OK with the sign in general but told Odolecki to remove the advice to "turn now," reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. When he refused, officers gave him the ticket on the grounds that he was obstructing police business. (Ohio is poised to let drivers flash their lights at one another to warn of police, and judges elsewhere in the country have blessed that move in the name of free speech.)