Georgia sheriff arrested after allegedly driving county vehicle drunk

A Georgia sheriff was arrested last week after he was allegedly found swerving “all over the roadway” in a county-issued vehicle.

Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch had a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit at the time of his arrest, which was 10:30 a.m. Feb. 27, police say. Hall was arrested and taken to jail, but he was released on bond that night.

According to a police report obtained by local Fox 5 Atlanta, a Hall County deputy recognized Couch’s vehicle and said the sheriff “could not maintain lane at all.”

Knowing it was his boss’s vehicle, the deputy then reached out to the Georgia State Patrol and asked them to lead an investigation, though he continued following the vehicle, the outlet reported.

Once the sheriff was pulled over, the deputy noted the smell of alcohol, and another responding state trooper reported a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his breath.”  According to the police report, Couch’s blood alcohol content was 0.212%, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08%.

Under questioning from officers, Couch allegedly admitted he had been drinking and said he “screwed up,” claiming to have started drinking at 6 a.m. but that he had not had another drink since 8 a.m.

The officers allegedly found two open alcoholic drinks inside the vehicle.

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Details of Couch’s arrest came just days after a Pennsylvania school bus driver was accused of driving 54 elementary school children while over four times the legal alcohol limit.

On Tuesday, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Douglass Township Police Chief Robert B. Evans announced an arrest warrant for Kelly Weber, 46, of Boyertown.

Weber was charged with driving under the influence, 54 counts each of endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment and related summary offenses.

Authorities said police were alerted around 4 p.m. Feb. 6 that a school bus was traveling erratically and narrowly missing other vehicles.

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A responding officer later found the bus stopped in a snowbank.

Investigators said officers found an open 750-milliliter bottle of Tito’s vodka, two empty 50-milliliter bottles and a receipt showing the alcohol was purchased earlier that morning.

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