Hunter
01/13/20
Back in November, KCJJ reported that an Iowa City man was arrested for OWI and Child Endangerment after allegedly celebrating a successful interview with a few drinks. Now comes word that the man was successfully interviewing for a University of Iowa Associate Dean’s position.
The Daily Iowan reports that 48-year-old Roland Racevskis was hired as associate dean of arts and humanities two weeks after the interview, and UI spokesperson Janene Beck tells the paper that they were not aware of the arrest at the time. Beck said the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences did not require a criminal background check for Racevskis, a French professor, as he was an internal hire.
Iowa City police say they made a stop near the corner of South Dodge and East Burlington streets just before 5:30pm November 19th for an unspecified traffic violation. Officers made contact with Racevskis, and he allegedly had bloodshot watery eyes, unsteady and wavering balance, and thick slurred speech.
Racevskis reportedly told police that he had drank one beer earlier, and was taking his children, aged 9 and 13, to music lessons.
Field testing was said to show numerous signs of impairment. Racevskis initially refused to submit to a PBT but eventually consented, yielding a blood alcohol level of .139. A subsequent search incident to arrest allegedly located two cocktail bottles of Fireball in his pocket.
Back at the police department, Racevskis reportedly admitted to drinking to celebrate a successful job interview earlier in the day. A Datamaster test showed a result of .136, and the newspaper reports that the open forum occurred less than two hours before his arrest.
Beck told the DI in an email that Racevskis had made his supervisor aware of the situation but didn’t comment on how the university plans to address the charges if he’s convicted.
A hearing regarding charges against Racevskis will be held January 23rd.
