Drunken driving charges filed against a Lorain County sheriff’s deputy were dismissed Tuesday because the charging officer, a 24-year-old Ohio Highway Patrol trooper who resigned last week, did not show up in court.

Thomas Gronsky signed a letter of resignation Thursday, which also was his last day working, after three years and two months as a trooper with the patrol. He did not include a reason for resigning in the letter.

In July, Gronsky signed charges of operating a vehicle impaired and speeding against Lorain County sheriff’s Deputy Edward Gawlik.

According to court records, both charges were dismissed Tuesday. The records state that the OVI charge was dismissed because the court did not have enough evidence to “support reasonable grounds for arrest for an OVI offense.

“The court further finds that the arresting officer (Gronsky) did not have reasonable suspicion to perform the traffic stop. Therefore, all evidence resulting from the stop is not admissible,” according to the court record.

Avon Lake Municipal Court Judge Darrel Bilancini said Gronsky was subpoenaed to attend Tuesday’s court hearing. The hearing regarded an appeal by Gawlik to terminate his administrative license suspension and a motion to suppress evidence from the case.

Bilancini said without Gronsky present to testify at the hearings, the only evidence the prosecution had that there was reasonable suspicion to perform the July traffic stop was from a dash camera video of the incident. As a result, the court granted Gawlik’s administrative license suspension appeal and the prosecution moved to dismiss the OVI charge without prejudice.

Bilancini couldn’t comment on why Gronsky didn’t appear.

“He was not there today, and he was subpoenaed,” Bilancini said. “I think the prosecutor made a call to the state patrol and he may have spoken to someone, but I didn’t really get an explanation as to why he wasn’t there.’’

Gronsky pulled over Gawlik just before 1 a.m. July 1. The ticket said that Gawlik was driving his 2015 Kia 75 mph in a 65-mph zone.

Gawlik’s attorney, Anthony Nici, wrote in a court filing that the stop was unconstitutional.

“The state’s video clearly shows the officer confused alleged reasons for the traffic stop and was, in all reality, pursuing another vehicle and confused the Defendant’s vehicle with another,” Nici wrote. “The result is that the police cannot articulate any proper reason to stop the Defendant on this date.”

The court filing also argued that the trooper performed field sobriety tests improperly and not within view of the dash cam.

“The Defendant is confident and will demonstrate the police officer’s test was ineffective in determining if the Defendant was intoxicated; and video will further demonstrate the Defendant was completely sober,” Nici wrote. “Finally, the officers (sic) own paperwork will conclude the Defendant was not impaired when stopped by the police.”

The citation issued to Gawlik indicated that he refused to take a blood-alcohol test, which triggers an automatic license suspension in Ohio. Gawlik remained on duty during the proceedings.

Nici did not immediately return calls for comment.

Contact Jodi Weinberger at 329-7245 or jweinberger@chroniclet.com. Contact Jon Wysochanski at 329-7123 or jwysochanski@chroniclet.com.