While today is Friday the 13th, one Stafford driver had bad luck yesterday after driving around South Stafford in an intoxicated state.

On December 12th at approximately 7:35 p.m. Deputy C.D. Quebedeaux and Deputy S.C. Steinway responded to Ferry Road for a reckless driver complaint. The caller advised a Dodge Ram was having numerous problems. This included driving without tail lights, swerving all over the road, running a red light, and nearly striking another vehicle. The concerned caller followed the suspect vehicle as it took a pit stop at McDonald’s, located at 545 Ferry Road. The driver was then seen stumbling out of his vehicle and into the business.

Deputies made contact with the caller and another witness to get a description of the driver. Deputy Steinway entered the business to locate the driver, and when he 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.

While the driver admitted to driving to the business, and running a red light, he would refuse to identify himself. 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.

After a bit of time, deputies were finally able to identify the driver. He was charged 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. He was held at Rappahannock Regional Jail on a $4,000 secured bond.