Martinsburg man charged with DUI

April 01, 2006|By Robert Snyder

MARTINSBURG, W.Va.

A Martinsburg man with a long history of convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol was arrested Friday after being spotted by police allegedly driving erratically in the city, according to a press release from West Virginia State Police.

Charles Walter May, 32, of 201 Kentucky Ave., was arraigned in Berkeley County Magistrate Court after being charged with one felony count of driving under the influence third offense and driving with a revoked license third offense after he reportedly was identified as the driver of a vehicle spotted making an abrupt maneuver along Winchester Avenue on Friday about 1:40 p.m., according to the release.

May also was charged with several misdemeanor offenses, including battery on an officer and obstruction, after allegedly making threatening comments and kicking a police officer as police tried to escort him from the back of a police cruiser after arriving at Eastern Regional Jail, according to the release.

May, who police said had an odor of alcohol on his breath and was glassy-eyed, denied he had been driving the vehicle after being approached by West Virginia State Police Trooper 1st Class J.D. Bird as he walked toward the car after leaving the Scottish Inn. He allegedly admitted the vehicle was his, according to the release.

A search of the car May was driving revealed 10 empty beer cans and bottles, as well as a number of unopened containers, according to police. May was with four male passengers, two of whom indicated May was the driver, according to the release.

May refused sobriety tests and acknowledged he had been drinking, according to the release.

According to the release, May was sentenced to the state penitentiary after pleading guilty to DUI third offense in May 1997, and was convicted again on the same charge in January 2004 and February 2005.

May also was charged with driving without insurance, having improper registration and providing false information, according to the release.

May was being held at Eastern Regional Jail on $29,900 bail, according to the release.

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