Motorist charged with DUI on wrong side of Athens Perimeter

By Joe Johnson

Timothy Chad Gurley, 23, of Hull, was arrested early in the morning of July 22nd for allegedly driving drunk on the wrong side of the Athens Perimeter.

A police officer reported that he was patrolling the highway at around 2:15 a.m. when he saw Gurley’s car stopped in one of the northbound lanes.

When the officer stopped to investigate Gurley turned the car around and began to drive south on the northbound side of the highway, according to the report.

“As I approached the driver’s window I made contact with (Gurley) who immediately told me that he realized he was driving down the wrong side of the road,” the officer said in his report.

While speaking with Gurley, the officer noticed the odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and then saw five open mini bottles of cinnamon whiskey in the car’s center console and even more on the passenger seat.

The motorist refused to undergo roadside sobriety testing but agreed to a blood test, so the officer drove him to the hospital for his blood to be drawn.

He was then taken to the jail and booked in on charges of DUI, driving on the wrong side of the road, and possession of open containers of alcohol in a vehicle,

He was released several hours later upon posting bonds totaling $1,872.