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Submitted photo. A vehicle was overturned down an embankment following a one-car motor vehicle accident on Lake Rabun Road at Appaloosa Lane in Lakemont on Sunday, January 19. Station 4 volunteers were among those who responded to the accident.
LAKEMONT— A Tiger man was arrested for DUI after overturning his vehicle down an embankment on Lake Rabun Road at Appaloosa Lane in Lakemont on Sunday, January 19.
Austin Gregory Ramey, 25 of Tiger was the driver of black 2001 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. He was arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol-less safe 2nd and failure to maintain lane with accident.
Emergency personnel were dispatched to Lake Rabun Hotel at 12:32 a.m. to a one-car vehicle accident.
The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office Incident Report was completed by Deputy Andy Beck, who was one of the responders to the accident.
It was noted in the report that the accident did not occur at Lake Rabun Hotel, the driver had only gone to the hotel to call for help.
“While en route, I observed a black Chevrolet truck overturned down a small embankment,” Beck reported.
After arriving at the hotel, Beck said that Ramey approached him.
“As Austin [Ramey] approached me, I could smell an odor of gasoline. I asked Austin what happened and he stated he hit some ice and slid out of the roadway and his truck turned over,” Beck reported.
“No ice was found on the roadway nor was the temperature low enough (38 degrees) for ice to accumulate on the roadway,” Beck said. “As I spoke with Austin, I could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Austin’s breath.”
Ramey was then asked to complete field sobriety tests, which he consented to.
Beck noted during the field sobriety test that Ramey’s eyes were “glassy and bloodshot.” He also could not balance during the instructional phase and stepped off the line and swayed while balancing on one leg.
Ramey then consented to a portable breath test to test for alcohol on his breath and Beck obtained the intoximeter from his patrol car.
“The first time Austin did not blow hard enough and the machine read insufficient flow, so I explained to Austin he would have to take a deeper breath and blow harder. At the time I retested Austin’s breath, Austin’s breath tested positive for alcohol at .121 grams,” Beck reported.
Ramey was transported to Mountain Lakes Medical Center where blood was drawn for a Blood Alcohol/Toxicology Kit before being taken to the Rabun County Detention Center.