Scott Swanson Short, 46, was arrested and charged with drunken driving Saturday afternoon after a hit and run accident in a Hawthorne Avenue parking lot where he reportedly drove into one parked car and then backed into a second before driving away, Athens-Clarke County police said.
With a witness following and keeping police apprised of Short’s whereabouts, officers caught up with him after he pulled into a convenience store on Jefferson Road, according to police. The witness had told a 911 dispatcher he thought Short was going to kill someone with his car, police said.
Short was still in the driver’s seat of his car when he reportedly told police he did not know what happened. When he got out of the car, he fell and was caught by an officer, police said. An open can of beer was observed on the floor of the car.
Short submitted to roadside sobriety testing, which was cut short when it became apparent he would not be able to complete it, according to police, who took him to the hospital for his blood to be drawn for testing.
The Statham resident was charged with DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and possession of an open container of alcohol in a vehicle.