21-Year-Old UGA Student Arrested for DUI After Crashing her Car

Around 2:30 AM on September 11, 2022, Officer Torie Teets with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department was working patrol in Downtown Athens for the football game. In front of the Lay-Z-Shopper store on E Clayton Street, she noticed that there were two vehicles obstructing the roadway with their hazard lights activated. As she approached them to instruct them to move, she noticed that the two vehicles had been in an apparent fender bender. She made contact with the driver of the vehicle who had struck the car in front of her, and she was identified as 21-year-old Remington. As she was speaking with Remington, Officer Teets detected the odor of alcohol and observed indicators of impairment.

When Officer Teets asked her if she had been drinking, Remington admitted to consuming 1 glass of wine. The officer then asked her for her identification, and Remington initially had trouble finding it. She told the officer that she was driving her friend home after they had been drinking at a bar. Based on her suspicion of impairment, Officer Teets asked Remington to perform field sobriety exercises.

Officer Teets started with the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test, and she observed the lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus at maximum deviation, and the onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees. She also observed a vertical gaze nystagmus. The second exercise was the Walk and Turn test. During the Walk and Turn test, Remington did not touch heel-to-toe on each step, stepped off the line multiple times, and displayed a lack of balance. The final exercise was the One Leg Stand test, and Remington did not perform this test satisfactorily.

Based on the motor vehicle accident, the odor of alcohol, her admission to consuming alcohol, and her inability to adequately perform the field sobriety exercises, Remington was placed under arrest for DUI. After Remington was placed under arrest, her passenger was instructed to call for a ride because her vehicle had to be towed. When Officer Teets read the Implied Consent statement to her, she refused to submit breath samples for testing. Officer Teets then walked her all the way to a police car in front of their police station and transported her to the Clarke-County Jail for further processing. Remington was issued the following summonses: DUI – Alcohol – Less Safe (40-6-391(a)(1)) and Following too Closely (40-6-49)