Thomas Ravenel Charged With Drunken Driving

Former South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel is in trouble with law enforcement again.

Ravenel, 50, of Charleston, was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, as well as two violations for driving on the shoulder and failure to keep right. 

East Hampton Village police said in a report that officers saw him swerving on Montauk Highway at around 2:10 a.m. in a 2010 Toyota Landcruiser. He allegedly crossed over the solid white line onto the shoulder as well as the center yellow line on Montauk Highway, near Cove Hollow Road. He was stopped near Stephen Hands Path.

Police said his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, his eyes were glassy and red, and he was unsteady of his feet. He failed several roadside sobriety tests. 

He allegedly admitted to police that he had been drinking earlier, but refused to take a breath test at headquarters. He did however submit to a breath test in the field, police said.

Ravenel is apparently in New York for a polo match as a member of the Southampton Polo Team, according to WISTV.com. Ravenel has been released on $650 bail, and is due back in court on Thursday.

Elected SC Treasurer in 2006, Ravenel resigned in 2007 amid a drug scandal and spent seven months in federal prison on cocaine possession charges. 

— Editor's Note: Patch East Hampton, N.Y. Editor Taylor Vecsey contributed to this article.