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Doug Odolecki, 43, was warning motorists about a drunken-driving police checkpoint when Parma officers issued him a citation for his sign on Friday.

(Carol Kovach/Special to Sun News)

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.