Ohio State Safety Marcus Hooker Pleads Guilty To OVI

The junior was fined and had his driver’s license suspended with limited privileges.

According to Franklin County Municipal Court records, Ohio State safety Marcus Hooker pleaded guilty on Monday to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. He was fined $375, had his driver’s license suspended with limited privileges for one year and was sentenced to three days in jail, though that was suspended.

The 21-year-old Hooker was initially arrested and charged with OVI after Columbus Police found him unresponsive at the wheel in a McDonald’s drive-thru just before 2 a.m. on March 13. Body camera footage showed officers repeatedly tapping on his windows and windshield, rocking his car and using the police air horn before eventually breaking the right rear passenger side window to unlock the doors and remove him from the vehicle.

Hooker was then suspended indefinitely by head coach Ryan Day and has not participated in any of the Buckeyes’ 12 spring practices. It’s unclear if or when he’ll return to the team.

“We're very disappointed and take what happened very seriously,” Day said on March 17. “We're going to let the process play out. He is suspended right now indefinitely and we'll kind of see as things move forward. We’ll make the decisions as we go, but we wanted to get all the information first before we did anything.”

This marks the second time Hooker, a redshirt junior from New Castle, Pa., has been suspended following an arrest. He also missed the 2018 season opener against Oregon State after he was charged with driving under the influence, disregarding traffic lanes, careless driving, not having rear lights and the purchase of an alcoholic beverage by a minor.

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