Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager wet himself during a traffic arrest in Georgia on Tuesday, according to an incident report, with video appearing to show the politician wearing stained pants while staggering in a field sobriety test.
Yager, chairman of his state’s Senate Republican Caucus, was charged with hit-and-run, failure to stop at a stop sign and DUI (less safe driver), a spokesperson for the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office told HuffPost on Thursday.
“An unfortunate incident occurred last night,” the politician said in a statement to various media. “On the advice of my lawyer, I cannot discuss the details at this time. I will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities to bring this incident to an appropriate conclusion.”
Troopers investigated a collision involving a Ford Edge and reportedly followed it to the parking lot of a convenience store on Jekyll Island. A person there, identified as Yager, was already being treated for injuries by emergency responders when they arrived, WKRN reported.
Officers noticed alcohol on his breath and ordered Yager, who admitted to drinking wine earlier in the day, to undergo field sobriety tests, according to the arresting trooper’s incident report from the Georgia Department of Public Safety, which was cited by The Tennessean.
The incident report also states that at some point during the stop, Yager urinated on himself and registered 0.14% on a Breathalyzer-type device. Tennessee’s NewsChannel 5 said it obtained video of the sobriety tests, with the footage appearing to show Yager with a large stain on his pants as he struggles to walk in a straight line.
Watch the video shared by NewsChannel 5 here.
The conservative lawmaker has voted against gender-affirming care for minors and voted to refuse to allow marriage officials to marry if they object to the union based on their beliefs. He also supported measures to ban transgender girls from playing on private school female teams and to allow teachers and others to refuse to call students by their preferred pronouns.
HuffPost has reached out to Yager’s office for comment.
Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager, pictured speaking on the Senate floor in April 2024, called his DUI arrest “unfortunate.” via Associated Press
