According to a Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office incident report, On Saturday, April 15th, 2023, at 11:48 PM, Corporal Thomas was sitting on Dietz Road at Hidden Creek Lane running radar when he observed a 2005 Honda Accord traveling at 49 mph in a 35 mph zone. Corporal Thomas initiated a traffic stop and made contact with the driver, identified as Alexander Thomas Blanchard, 30. According to the report, “Alexander greeted CPL Thomas with “How you doing officer,” but he said “officer’ with a thick tongue. He said he knew he was breaking the law and that he was speeding, but he was just “feeling the music”. CPL Thomas could tell that Alexander’s speech seemed slightly slurred. CPL Thomas leaned into the window and could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Alexander. He could also see Alexander’s eyes were red and just slightly watery. While looking around inside the car while Alexander looked for his insurance car, CPL Thomas saw what appeared to be a half-empty liquor bottle in the front passenger seat. Alexander was very nervous and kept saying, “I’m sorry” over and over again. CPL Thomas told Alexander he did not have to keep apologizing, and he said he was just worried about his CDL and didn’t want to lose it. CPL Thomas asked Alexander if he’d had anything to drink, and he said he had not. CPL Thomas asked Alexander if he would agree to field sobriety testing, and he said he would, and he kept saying, “I’m sorry”.” During field sobriety testing, Alexander showed several signs of impairment and a BAC of .107 on a PBT. CPL Thomas reminded him that he said he’d not had anything to drink, and asked if that was true, and Alexander replied, “yeah I’ve had a couple, I’m sorry”. He then asked if there was any way his cousin could come pick him up because he knew he was “about to f**k my life up right here” and “I know I shouldn’t have been doing this”. When talking to his cousin, he told his cousin that he only had a couple of beers. Alexander refused the state test and was transported to the Catoosa County Jail and charged with speeding, open container violation, and DUI.
Man arrested for DUI after being stopped for speeding in Catoosa County
