Bowling Green Police arrested an Indiana man Saturday for driving with reportedly more than three times the legal blood alcohol level, and for improper handling of a firearm while intoxicated.
Craig McKinsey, 22, Losantville, Indiana, was cited for OVI, the firearms charge, and failure to notify the police officer of the firearm in the vehicle. He was taken to the Wood County jail.
An officer first observed the Dodge Ram pickup at 11:09 p.m., when the vehicle turned onto East Wooster Street from North Enterprise Street without a turn signal. The officer began to follow the pickup at a distance as it continued on East Wooster Street toward Interstate 75.
While the truck was traveling through the 1500 block of East Wooster Street, another vehicle pulled onto the street from the parking lot of Waffle House. According to the police report, the pickup then quickly approached the vehicle, began to follow it from an unsafe distance, and honked its horn several times.
Then the pickup reportedly merged into the left lane and failed to use its turn signal. The Ram accelerated quickly, causing a loud exhaust noise and a large amount of black smoke from the exhaust, the officer reported.
The officer turned on his overhead lights, and the pickup pulled over before the first roundabout on East Wooster Street.
There were six people in the pickup, and a strong odor of alcohol reportedly coming from the vehicle.
The driver, McKinsey, reportedly had slurred and stuttered speech. He told police that he had not consumed any alcohol.
The officer asked the driver if there were any weapons in the vehicle, and McKinsey said there was a loaded handgun in the center console. McKinsey was advised that he had failed to notify the officer that he was carrying a concealed weapon in the vehicle.
The firearm was identified as a Taurus G2s 9mm handgun with a seven-round magazine. There were six bullets in the magazine and one bullet in the chamber of the gun. Open containers of alcohol were found in the vehicle as well.
During the field sobriety tests, McKinsey reportedly lost his balance multiple times just during the directions. He reportedly stumbled multiple times during the tests.
At the police station, McKinsey consented to taking a breath test. The test reportedly showed he had a .250 blood alcohol content.
Passengers in the pickup were also cited for underage possession of alcohol and open containers in a motor vehicle.
