Mayor calls news conference on Allen probe

By Chuck Williams --

Mayor Jim Wetherington has called a Friday morning news conference to discuss a nearly five-month investigation into the city's handling of a crash by an on-duty Columbus firefighter who tested positive for cocaine in a post-accident drug test.

Wetherington called for the investigation in December by Police Department's Office of Professional Standards after it was reported by the Ledger-Enquirer that firefighter Zachary Allen, while driving a hazardous materials truck, hit two cars at the intersection of Interstate 185 and Macon Road en route to an emergency call.

The firefighter, who had been with the department about a year, tested positive for cocaine in a post-accident drug test. Allen, the son of Columbus councilor Gary Allen, resigned the day after the wreck.

Wetherington got an executive summary of the investigation "in the last couple of days," said the mayor's assistant Judy Thomas.

"We are not ready to give out any information at this point," Thomas said Thursday afternoon. "We will be ready to give out the information tomorrow. ... The mayor is still in the process of dealing with all of the things in the report."