Less than a year after making headlines for being arrested on a DUI charge, South Carolina state Rep. Ted Vick (D) is again in hot water for suspected drunk driving.
Vick was arrested and charged early Wednesday morning on the grounds of the South Carolina State House, WLTX reports. An officer at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center told the Columbia Free-Times that Vick was brought to the jail after 1:00 a.m. He was picked up earlier in the night, a Department of Public Safety spokesperson also told the Free-Times, after an officer "saw Vick stumbling around the state House grounds" and followed him until he entered his vehicle parked in the state House garage. He reportedly couldn't drive in a straight line and struck a cone in the garage. When he was approached by the officer, he smelled of alcohol, according to the report. Vick didn't comply when asked to take a field sobriety test, the spokesperson told the Free-Times.
As of 11:00 a.m., he was still in jail in lieu of a $997 bond, Columbia Patch reports
Vick found himself in a similar position in May of last year. In the midst of a heated Democratic primary for the state's 7th Congressional District, he was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving, speeding and illegal possession of a pistol. The DUI charge was eventually dropped, but not before the controversy forced him to drop out of the race in order to "spend time" with his family and "consult" with his pastor.
Extra scrutiny was cast on Vick over the fact that a 21-year-old female student was in his car at the time of his first arrest. Both Vick and the student maintained that they had only met recently at a local bar, and that he was simply giving her a ride home.
This post has been updated to include new details from the Department of Public Safety about Vick's arrest.
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