CARYVILLE, TN (WLAF) – Last week, Wesley Alexander Newport had an unlucky day. Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputy Preston Mullins was travelling on Shady Cove Road when he noticed Newport’s black Toyota 4runner SUV traveling at a high rate of speed. Mullins caught up with the SUV attempting to see the vehicle’s registration plate for identification. However, the 4runner’s registration lights were in-operable and Mullins was not able to see the vehicle’s tag number. Mullins continued to follow the Toyota until he could find an appropriate place for a traffic stop. In the meantime, the Toyota swerved from side to side as well as taking wide turns, wider than necessary. When Newport’s Toyota approached the stop sign at the intersection of Shady Cove and Cherry Bottom Roads, Newport failed to stop at the stop sign and merged right onto Cherry Bottom Road.

Mullins stopped the Toyota at Cherry Bottom Church and made contact with the Newport noticing a strong smell of alcoholic beverages coming from inside the SUV. Newport was asked for his driver’s license when Mullins noticed the man was slurring his speech and appeared to be having difficulty keeping his eye lids open, commonly referred to as “on the nod.” Mullins noticed an open bottle of Bud Light in the passenger side of the vehicle with the nose of the bottle facing toward Newport. He was asked if he had drank anything from the bottle, and he allegedly responded it was from work earlier in the day. Mullins asked Newport what time he got off work and replied he “did not work today.” He was then asked if he knew what time of the day it was and replied around nine o’clock in the evening, he was then asked if knew what day of the week it was or the month to which he responded February and the day was Wednesday. However the actual date and time were Sunday, March 13 at 12:06 am.

Mullins had Newport get out of the 4runner to perform field sobriety tests. As he was exiting, Newport appeared to stagger to the rear of the SUV. Newport was given a series of field sobriety tests to which he performed unsatisfactorily and was placed under arrest.

When he arrived at the jail, Newport was read the Tennessee Implied Consent form in its entirety. After being read the form, he became belligerent and refused to provide a chemical sample for testing. Based on the report form the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, Newport said, “I’m not going to give blood because you have a hard on for taking someone to jail, that’s f******* stupid.” As Mullins was attempting to fill out the book-in paperwork, Newport refused to provide his social security number and said “f****** find it out.”

Newport, 28, 2768 Hwy 116, Caryville was charged with failure to maintain lane, driving under influence (DUI) and violation implied consent law. He is free on bond awaiting an April court date based on jail records. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 03/21/2022-6AM)

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