Senator Arrested After Alleged Drunken SUV Joy Ride
Idaho potato John McGee, who boasts on his website that he's the youngest member of his state's senate, celebrated Father's Day by engaging in some youthful indiscretions that he probably now very much regrets, as he sits in his Ada County Jail cell.
Seems McGee—state senate GOP Caucus chairman, a past "Republican Legislator of the Year," and a self-described advocate of roads and bridges—allegedly ended up driving along one of his beloved motorways last night after one too many rounds of drinks (and perhaps one too many rounds of golf, the sport of sin and scandal):
According to the Ada County Sheriff's Office, McGee started the eventful night Saturday drinking in a golf course clubhouse. McGee left the clubhouse and began walking before coming to a Ford Excursion with a trailer hooked up. The SUV was unlocked with the keys inside. McGee got inside and drove away. At some point, McGee tried turning the vehicle and trailer around in a driveway near Overland and Victory in Boise. McGee was unsuccessful at turning around and the Excursion and trailer jack-knifed. McGee then exited the vehicle and walked back and forth a few times before climbing back in and going to sleep. Two witnesses in a nearby house were watching all of the events transpire and called police. When police arrived McGee told authorities he was on his way to Jackpot.
In a sense, we're all on our way to Jackpot, aren't we? Not to be overly philosophical or anything. Oh, and that's Jackpot, Nevada, by the way—it's on the Nevada-Idaho border. They have some nice casinos there.
McGee wasn't injured, but a Breathalyzer test gauged his blood alcohol content at .15; he's been charged with drunken driving and suspicion of felony grand theft, and will be arraigned on Monday afternoon. But criminal charges and public shame are nothing compared to the guilt he will probably have to bear forever and ever, as the "two witnesses in a nearby house" who watched him do his turning-around thing with the SUV were children. Now they will possibly spend the rest of their lives being cynical about politics (at least they're learning early on in life).
While McGee's apparently wrestling with his position on drinking and driving, he's come out against texting and driving. So, there's that. [KTVB]