The St. Joseph County police officer on administrative suspension after being arrested on a misdemeanor OWI charge has resigned from the department.

Coty Hoffman’s resignation comes just days before Sheriff Bill Redman was prepared to present disciplinary charges against Hoffman to the County Police Merit Board.

The board meeting is set for Tuesday, Jan. 10.

It was just before 12 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26, when Hoffman, who was off-duty at the time, was traveling in his marked police vehicle and hit a mailbox in the 53000 block of Hickory Road.

Hoffman contacted the on-duty supervisor to report the crash. The supervisor noticed that Hoffman’s speech was slowed and contacted the Indiana State Police to handle the crash investigation.

Indiana State Police officers arrested Hoffman on the misdemeanor OWI charge and Hoffman was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail.

Sheriff Redman placed Hoffman on suspension and ordered an internal investigation.