Calhoun woman arrested for DUI after causing two-vehicle crash in Gordon County

According to a Georgia State Patrol incident report, On June 23rd, 2023, at 4:51 PM, Trooper Mefford responded to Union Grove Road at Belwood Road in reference to a two-vehicle crash. Trooper Mefford made contact with one of the drivers, Lori Nicole Buttram, 40, of Calhoun, who had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath. Trooper Mefford reported, “[I] asked Mrs. Buttram to exit her vehicle. As she did, [I] observed that she was very uneasy on her feet. Once Mrs. Buttram was at the front of my patrol vehicle, [I] asked her how much she had drunk. She stated that she had one margarita at lunch.” During Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, Buttram showed several signs of impairment. Trooper Meffor reported, “After completing SFST, [I] asked Mrs. Buttram if she would provide a breath sample into my PBT. She agreed. [I] explained to Mr. Buttram how [I] needed her to provide a breath sample into the PBT. [I] explained that [I] needed her to give a long steady breath like she was blowing up a balloon. She did not do as [I] explained by only giving a short breath. [I] again explained that it needed to be a long steady breath. She only provided another short breath and turned away. [I] asked if that was all she would provide. She answered, “I don’t have a lawyer, so yeah.” With everything that [I] had observed from SFST, Mrs. Buttram’s behavior, and her causing a crash, [I] placed her in handcuffs and advised her that she was under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol.” Buttram agreed to the state blood test. The trooper then observed a partially empty bottle of Fireball Whisky in the vehicle. While in the back seat of the patrol vehicle, Buttram began crying and begging the trooper not to take her to jail. She also mentioned taking several shots of Fireball during lunch, which made sense to the trooper observing the bottle in her purse. Buttram was booked into the Gordon County Jail, charged with following too closely, DUI, and open container violation.