The president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana had a blood alcohol content more than four times the legal limit for the state of Indiana and asked Valparaiso police to contact the police chief, the sheriff, the mayor and a judge to help him out of his situation, according to a police report released Monday.
Police said Ryan A. Smiley “displayed a very entitled attitude and mentioned he was the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club” during his interaction with police late Thursday and asked if officers knew what they were doing.
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“Thanks a lot for ruining my (expletive) life,” Smiley said to police several times, as well as calling officers an expletive throughout their encounter, according to the police report.
Valparaiso police arrested Smiley, 45, of the 3100 block of Coachman Trail, on five misdemeanor counts related to operating while intoxicated. The board of directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs issued a statement Friday that Smiley had been placed on administrative leave because of his arrest.
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According to the police report, around 10:43 p.m. Thursday, an officer had just finished helping a Valparaiso High School student push a disabled vehicle from Vale Park Road on the east side of Campbell Street to the teacher’s lot at the high school.
As the officer left the parking lot and approached Vale Park Road, he reportedly heard a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed and saw a black Audi turn westbound on to Vale Park Road from Campbell Street.
“The driver of the vehicle then accelerated to an extremely high rate of speed as it passed my location,” the officer said in the report.
The officer pulled behind the Audi to attempt a traffic stop and activated his squad car’s emergency lights and continued to follow the Audi, which allegedly continued at a high rate of speed until turning left onto Coachman Trail and pulling into a driveway of the 3100 block of the street.
An officer asked for Smiley’s drivers license after he got out of his car and for him to remain at the rear of his vehicle. Police said they “observed signs of intoxication” as they spoke with Smiley.
Smiley asked police if there was a problem and when an officer said that Smiley was speeding and was intoxicated, Smiley insisted he was not intoxicated, according to the report. He also refused to undergo field sobriety tests.
“I’m in my driveway, I’m not doing any field sobriety,” Smiley reportedly told police. When an officer said he had not captured Smiley’s speed on radar, Smiley said, “then there is no conversation we have to have right now.”
Smiley also reportedly declined to submit to a portable breath test and police informed him he was under arrest for operating while intoxicated refusal.
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Police said Smiley allegedly “was loud and verbally abusive” to officers at times and requested to call Valparaiso Police Chief Jeff Balon, Valparaiso Mayor Matt Murphy, Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds and Porter Superior Court Judge Christopher Buckley “to help him out of his situation.”
While police were on the phone with Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer requesting a blood search warrant, “Mr. Smiley kept yelling ‘Hey Buck,’ thinking I was talking to Judge Buckley,” police said.
Police transported Smiley to Northwest Health-Valparaiso Campus for a blood draw. Smiley’s blood alcohol content was reportedly 0.34%. Police transported Smiley to Porter County Jail after he was medically cleared.
The clubs’ board of directors issued the following statement Friday:
“Unfortunately the governing board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Northwest Indiana has been informed that president and CEO Ryan Smiley was arrested during the early hours of Oct. 14 and charged with reckless driving and driving under the influence. These charges of misconduct are inconsistent with employee conduct standards as established by the governing board.
“President and CEO Smiley has been placed on administrative leave with management tasks being assigned to the executive team. The important work of the organization will be unaffected. There will be no further public comment concerning this matter.”
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According to Smiley’s profile on LinkedIn, he has served as president and CEO of the organization since January 2018. Before the Porter and Lake County clubs merged, he served as president of the Porter County clubs for more than four years, and previously was director of operations there.
The nonprofit has 10 locations throughout Lake and Porter counties offering youth programs, including a new Valparaiso club at 708 Evans Ave. that opened earlier this year.
alavalley@chicagotribune.com
