Patrón found in accused drunk driver's car at McDonald's, Stafford County deputies say
Dec 13, 2024
STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) -- The Stafford County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) said that one driver had "bad luck" Thursday after driving while under the influence.
SCSO deputies responded to Ferry Road around 7:35 p.m. after someone complained about a reckless driver -- a Dodge Ram was reported to have "numerous problems" including "driving without tail lights, swerving all over the road, running a red light, and nearly striking another vehicle," a post read.
The caller followed the car and saw the driver stumble out of it and into a McDonald's on Ferry Road.
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Responding deputies got a description of the driver before going into the McDonald's to look for him. When one deputy checked the bathroom, "he was instantly hit with a strong smell. Not the one expected from a bathroom, but the strong smell of an alcoholic beverage coming from the driver."
SCSO said that the driver refused to identify himself while talking to officials.
"The driver would also state he was “not drunk,” which may have been more convincing if he didn’t have such slurred speech or was actively leaning against his vehicle to prevent him from falling over. A partially drained bottle of Patron was on perfect display in plain view in the area of the passenger seat, which did not help his case," SCSO's post said.
(Image courtesy of the Stafford County Sheriff's Office)
After SCSO deputies managed to identify him, they charged him with driving under the influence, drinking while driving, failure to identify himself, failure to obey a traffic light and traffic sign, driving without tail lights and reckless driving.