A Minburn man was charged with drunk driving Tuesday night after trying to outrun a Perry Police Officer on the gravel.
Matthew Paul Bryan, 34, of 18576 N Ave., Minburn, was charged with first-offense OWI, eluding and reckless driving.
The incident began about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday on N Avenue near 180th Street, where a patrolling officer of the Perry Police Department saw a 2010 Toyota Corolla being driven erratically.
The officer initiated a traffic stop, but while the officer was checking the license plate information of the Toyota, the vehicle, driven by Bryan, sped away westbound on 180th Street.
The officer pursued Bryan on the granular-surface roadway at speeds exceeding 70 mph.
At one point, Bryan’s vehicle entered the south ditch and then returned to the roadway but now traveling eastbound on 180th Street. The vehicle eventually turned southbound on N Avenue and entered a driveway at 18576 N Ave.
The officer then detained Bryan, who “let out an excited utterance and said he ran because he was drunk driving,” according to court records.
Bryan declined field sobriety testing and a preliminary breath test, but he later submitted to a Datamaster test that indicated he “was over the legal limit,” according to court records.
Bryan was held in the Dallas County Jail on a $2,000 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 24 in Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
