A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation was charged this weekend with his second DUI.
Charleston police stopped Brent Walker, director of communications for the DOT, after officers on Saturday saw him fail to stop for the stop sign at the intersection of Hale Street and Virginia Street in Charleston, then go over the center line, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
Walker, 51, of Charleston, blew a 0.087 on a Breathalyzer test, the complaint says.
"Professionally the DOH policy is not to comment on personnel issues, especially on private time," Walker said Monday. "On a personal level, this is an extremely regrettable situation that will be handled privately with the assistance of my attorney. I plan on going through the process and moving forward."
Police stopped Walker on Walnut Road at Ridgemont Road in the South Hills area.
Charleston Police Cpl. B.W. Jones wrote in the complaint that he could smell alcohol on Walker's breath.
Walker allegedly told Jones he had "several drinks" when the officer asked how much he'd had to drink.
During the stop, Walker took three field sobriety tests and a breath test. The complaint states that he failed the breath test but does not say how he performed on the three field sobriety tests.
While at the police station, he took an Intoximeter test and blew a 0.087, the complaint states. It is illegal to drive in West Virginia with a blood alcohol content over 0.08.
Walker faces a second charge of DUI first offense.
Police also arrested Walker for DUI first offense on Dec. 6, 2014. That charge was dismissed after he requested a deferral, according to a magistrate court employee.
Walker declined Monday to say what was required of him, saying only "I went through the process."
According to West Virginia state code, a driver can get a first offense DUI dismissed after participating in the Motor Vehicle Alcohol Test and Lock program - which requires drivers to use a device commonly called a "blow and go" - for 165 days.
After being pulled over at the intersection of Bridge Road and Louden Heights Road, he allegedly failed a preliminary breath test with a blood alcohol concentration result of 0.120, then a second test with a result of 0.107, after being pulled over by Charleston police around 11:40 p.m.
Police said that Walker failed to use a turn signal when changing lanes after turning onto the South Side Bridge, with another vehicle approaching from behind.
He told the Gazette at the time that he had been advised by his attorney not to speak about the case.
The most recent statistics available from the Department of Health and Human Resources show that about 2,265 motor vehicle crashes in West Virginia involved alcohol in 2012, down from about 3,918 in 2004.
According to preliminary estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 84 people died in alcohol-involved crashes in West Virginia in 2014.
Through the Governor's Highway Safety Program, the Department of Transportation is one of the agencies that works to reduce those numbers.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.