SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — Being drunk at 10 AM is enough to bring into question one’s judgmental skills. Being drunk at that hour and getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle is probably enough to answer any such question.
Being drunk at that hour behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and then attempting to outrun the cops begins to beg even more questions, all of which Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department deputies are more than willing to answer with a pair of handcuffs and a free ride to jail.
That’s exactly what happened to 55-year-old Guadalupe resident Joseph Perry on the morning of April 6th when deputies responded to a report of what SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover described as “a man who was sleeping in his truck.”
When deputies awakened Perry, ostensibly to “check on his well-being,” he summarily put pedal to metal and drove away from the scene and away from the inquisitive deputies.
At that point, the chase was on. With SBSD deputies in hot pursuit and CHP units joining the action with all units “ordered to hold all incoming traffic on Highway 1,” a high-risk felony stop was conducted, bringing Perry’s vehicle to an abrupt stop.
Extricated from his truck, Perry was reportedly “cooperative but appeared to be intoxicated,” whereupon he was taken into custody and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail and booked on charges of DUI, driving on a suspended license, and failure to yield by evading.
