The arrest citation for the Breckinridge County Sheriff says after wrecking into a Leitchfield woman the sheriff could be seen hiding beer.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Joey Beasley arrested Breckinridge County Sheriff Todd Pate on Friday night at approximately 7:15. In the citation, Beasley states that upon making contact with Pate, after he crashed his Chevrolet Silverado into a vehicle being driven by Jill Lanning on Hwy 259 near McDaniels, the sheriff exuded a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his person, blood shot eyes, slurred speech and (was) unsteady on his feet.” Beasley also wrote in the citation that he asked Pate to “lean against the rear” of his cruiser “so he would not fall into traffic.”
The citation says that Pate consented to a “breath test,” and recorded a .159, nearly twice the legal limit of .08.
Witnesses at the scene, in reporting the accident to Breckinridge County Dispatch, said that Pate was “hiding beer bottles in a nearby wooded area,” after the wreck, according to the citation. When Beasley arrived on scene, he found Pate “standing above his truck in a wooded area.”
Pate was lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center but is no longer listed as an inmate. Lanning was treated and released from Breckinridge County Memorial Hospital.
This incident marks the second time since October 2015 that Pate has been charged with DUI. Pate was arrested in Bowling Green after being found intoxicated and behind the wheel of a vehicle in the parking lot of a Waffle House. Police had been looking for Pate after his wife swore out a warrant against him for threatening to kill her and her parents. He was charged with terroristic threatening and DUI among other charges. He later pled guilty to DUI.
Pate was first elected sheriff in 2003.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
