HANCOCK, Maine — An Ellsworth man who allegedly got a car stuck at a local woman’s property before passing out drunk at the wheel is due to appear in court on Jan. 22, according to court documents.
Trooper Michael Southard of the Maine State Police said Robert Abshear, 35, was arrested on a charge of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicants in connection with the Dec. 21 incident.
Southard said Thursday that police think Abshear was trying to drive a borrowed 2000 Jeep Cherokee to a house in Lamoine. But instead, Abshear drove the vehicle into the driveway of a woman who lives on Ridgewood Court in Hancock, he added.
“It appears as though he was lost,” Southard said. “He was extremely intoxicated.”
Southard said Abshear drove the vehicle off the edge of the driveway and got it stuck.
The trooper said the woman who lives at the home called police around 2:10 a.m. Dec. 21 to report someone talking outside. She reported it as a conversation, Southard said, but police believe Abshear was talking to himself.
“It was absolutely pouring down rain that night,” Southard said.
Sergeant Tim Varney of the Maine State Police arrived at the scene and found Abshear passed out in the driver’s seat, Southard said. Police woke Abshear and administered field sobriety tests and an intoxilyzer test, all of which Abshear failed, the trooper said. He declined to specify the results of the intoxilyzer test.
“He was over the legal limit,” Southard said. “He was having some difficulty standing.”
The legal blood-alcohol limit for operating a vehicle in Maine is 0.08 percent.
There did not appear to be any damage to the Jeep, according to Southard.
Abshear was taken to Hancock County Jail in Ellsworth and subsequently was bailed out. Information about Abshear’s bail amount was not immediately available Friday morning. According to court documents, Abshear’s bail conditions prohibit him from possessing or using alcohol or drugs, or from possessing dangerous weapons. Abshear also has to submit to random searches and tests to make sure he is compliant with his bail conditions.
Follow BDN reporter Bill Trotter on Twitter at @billtrotter.
Why is this in the paper? So what……. now the paper is giving out gossip fodder.
Try printing the real news that matters.
Maine and being drunk is the way life is….
He was passed out, how does anyone know he drove it there, if he was passed out he was not driving, just helping someone get it out while they pushed, and that person went to get help. She heard a conversation that could mean a 2nd person, he was wet and cold and got in the wrong door, then passed out ect……..
Because nobody is responsible for their own actions, ever.
Good points, Jed. A fast talking lawyer could ruffle some feathers with this one. Nobody saw him drive there, wasn’t driving when the cops came knocking –prove he drove drunk, might could say the driver got out and walked away. But given the way things seem to go, he’ll tell on himself, eat the fine and take the license suspension and waddle on home..
His bail must have been set at $1.00…
Why should he be held with a high bail? If all drunk drivers were given a high bail the jails would be completely filled.
It gets the drunks off the street… lessons for others to follow. It should go for those texting or taliking on their cell phone too.. Thank goodness, I don’t know what it is like to have a drunk driver cross the center line on a road, headed toward me.
If the keys were in the ignition he is done