Viral Dayton Weatherman Arrested For OVI

Sarah Frazier
Contributing Writer

A local meteorologist who went viral in a video during the Memorial Day Tornados was arrested for an alleged OVI on Aug. 29.

WKEF meteorologist Jamie Simpson got a taste of fame when a video was posted online of him on-air covering severe weather. In the video, Simpson went off on “Bachelorette” fans during a tornado warning in Dayton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vww1IeQ02is

The tornado warning was issued during the national airing of “The Bachelorette” that Monday. Therefore, fans were upset when their show was interrupted by Simpson’s message. Fans immediately turned to Twitter and started tweeting aggressively at Simpson.

Simpson, angered by the tweets, responded.

“We’re not going back to the show,” he said. “This is a dangerous situation. Think about if this was in your neighborhood. I’m sick and tired of people complaining about this. Our job here is to keep people safe, and that is what we are going to do…this is pathetic.”

Many local residents thanked Simpson, and for a while he was known as a “disaster hero.”

However, the news surrounding Simpson moved in a different direction later this summer. On Aug. 29, about three months after the viral incident, Simpson was arrested at 1 a.m. on suspicion of an OVI.

This wasn’t Simpson’s first charge, however. He was involved in a crash in 2014 in Greene County.

If Simpson is found guilty, he could spend up to six months in jail since this would be his second violation.