It is not considered turning yourself in if you’re drinking and driving and you slam your car into the state’s mobile Breath Alcohol Testing lab at a DWI checkpoint, said Maj. Kevin Yarborough of the Newton Police Department.
That may come as a shock to Douglas Shane Southard, 21, of Hickory, who is accused of doing just that early Sunday morning at the intersection of US 321 Business and West Ninth St.
The lab, known as the BAT Mobile, had been stationed at the checkpoint since midnight. By about 2:45 a.m. the Newton, Hickory and Conover Police Departments, along with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office, Alcohol Law Enforcement and State Highway Patrol were beginning to break down the checkpoint.
“The patrol car parked behind that BAT Mobile had been moved,” Yarborough said.
About eight people – including a magistrate, several officers and two suspects caught by the checkpoint – were still inside the mobile lab when Southard slammed his red 1989 Chevrolet Camaro into the back of the bus.
He was driving south between 35 and 40 miles per hour when he hit the lab.
Southerd didn’t say much to the officers on the scene because he was drifting in and out of consciousness. He was taken by ambulance to Catawba Valley Medical Center. There were no other injuries reported in the collision.
“In the officer’s opinion, alcohol was believed to be a contributing factor in the crash,” Yarborough said.
Charges are pending the outcome of the Newton Police Department’s investigation.
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