Weaving, lack of seat belt lead to DUI charge

Inability to stay in the driving lane and a seat belt violation led Commerce police to charge a Hood Street man with driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol on Homer Road last Thursday night.

An officer on Homer Road observed a vehicle driven by Johnny Edward Bagwell, 52, of 84 Hood Street, Commerce failing to maintain a lane on a curve, and also noticed that Bagwell was not wearing a seat belt, according to the Commerce Police Department arrest report.



Upon pulling Bagwell over, the officer observed bloodshot and glassy eyes, the report indicated, and when the officer asked Bagwell how much he’d had to drink, the suspect replied, “three beers.” Bagwell also admitted to having been cited for failure to wear a seat belt on four previous occasions.

The report indicated that the officer asked Bagwell if there were any open containers of alcohol in the vehicle, to which Bagwell allegedly said there were not, whereupon the officer pointed to a beer can on the passenger-side front seat. That, the suspect said, “was only one beer.”

The report said Bagwell conceded that he might be too intoxicated to be driving, but that he was close to home and was ‘just trying to get home.” The officer noted that the suspect, who said he was returning from his son’s house, was driving on a limited permit from a previous DUI charge.

The officer cited him for DUI, failure to maintain a lane, littering, the seat belt violation, violation of the open container law and violation of the limited driving permit.