Police lights during police investigation.

Texas State Senator Charged With Driving Drunk

Nino Cambria on February 7, 2023

Texas Republican state Sen. Charles Schwertner was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly driving drunk, according to records obtained by WTAW.

Schwertner was arrested at a traffic stop around 12:45 a.m. and taken to the Travis County Jail, where he was charged with a misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated, according to WTAW. He was released after posting a personal bond of $3,000, according to WTAW.

BREAKING: Texas State Senator Charles J. Schwertner of Georgetown was arrested and charged with drunken driving in Austin overnight, according to Travis County Jail records.


— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) February 7, 2023


Leading to the traffic stop, an officer spotted a 2022 black Cadillac which was “swerving to the right and left and split the two lanes repeatedly,” according to an affidavit obtained by the Austin American Statesman. The officer noted in the affidavit that the senator had bloodshot, glassy and watery eyes and was confused and had slurred speech.

Schwertner has served in the Texas state Senate since 2013 and is the chairman of the Business and Commerce Committee, according to his Senate web page. He was scheduled to preside over an 11 a.m. committee meeting on the state’s power grid and recent winter weather issues in the state, according to the Statesman.

In 2018, the Republican was accused of sending sexual messages and a picture of male genitals to a female University of Texas graduate student, according to the Statesman. He denied the allegations, but also requested he not be reappointed to the Health and Human Services Committee before the 2019 legislative session, according to the Statesman.

“I met with Senator Schwertner very early this morning, directly after his unfortunate arrest. He was certainly humble and embarrassed by his circumstances but he was clear-eyed, sober, and making good sense. Because of this, we’ll be interested in the discovery once it becomes available,” Schwertner’s defense attorney Perry Minton said in a statement to the Statesman.

Related News:   Israeli strikes on Rafah raise fear ground assault could begin

Schwertner’s office and the Austin Police Department did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

You appear to be using an ad blocker

Shore News Network is a free website that does not use paywalls or charge for access to original, breaking news content. In order to provide this free service, we rely on advertisements. Please support our journalism by disabling your ad blocker for this website.