Drunk driver arrested after plowing car into truck on Lexington Road

Collin O’Neal Smith

By Joe Johnson

A 51-year-old Athens man was pulling into a gas station on Lexington Road the night of March 14 when a drunk driver crashed into the rear of his pickup truck.

When police arrived at the scene, 36-year-old Hill Street resident Collin O’Neal Smith was still at the wheel of his wrecked Mercury Marquis and on the phone.

Showing obvious signs of impairment, he was unable to explain what happened and was refused to perform roadside sobriety tests.

An open can of High Noon hard seltzer vodka was on the floor of the car, along with a half-full bottle of Tito’s Vodka.

Smith estimated that he had consumed a half dozen beers downtown, and while being driven to the hospital he told an officer, “I have a drinking problem.”

While at the hospital, blood was drawn from him for toxicology testing and a doctor checked him for injuries.

Smith was later booked into the county jail on charges of DUI, following another vehicle too closely, and open containers of alcohol in a vehicle.

He bonded out two days later and is scheduled for arraignment on April 7.