An Ada County Sheriff’s deputy was immediately placed on administrative leave after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and crashing into another car late Saturday night.
Meridian Police arrested John Rynhart, 43, after responding to a crash at the intersection of Meridian Road and Chinden Boulevard . Rynhart was off duty and driving a personally-owned Honda Ridgeline when investigators say he turned south from Chinden onto Meridian Road and hit a Honda Civic stopped at the traffic light.
Rynhart failed field sobriety tests and failed to provide adequate breath samples, so a blood draw was performed to determine if he was under the influence of any substances and, if so, his level of impairment at the time of the crash.
A 16-year-old girl was driving the Civic with two juvenile passengers. No one involved in the crash reported any injuries.
Rynhart was booked into the Ada County Jail on a charge of driving under the influence. He posted a $500 bond and was released. He is scheduled to appear in court on the misdemeanor charge on June 4.
Ryhnart was hired by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office in October 2006. He has been a patrol deputy since that time. He will remain on administrative leave until the results of the toxicology report are available.