The Kansas Senate majority leader is facing a charge of driving under the influence and a crime of trying to escape the police after several people reported him driving on the wrong side of a highway.
Gene Suellentrop (R) was driving an SUV on the wrong side of a highway in Topeka, Kansas, on March 16.
The legislator on Friday was accused of DUI, reckless driving, crime of police evasion, speeding and driving on the wrong side of a highway, ABC News reported.
A felony charge is punishable by a year of probation or a few months in prison, a DUI is 100 hours of service or two days in prison and a reckless driving charge is a $ 500 fine and a sentence of five to 90 days in prison.
Suellentrop is currently in prison on $ 5,000 bail.
“They almost hit me, but I’m fine. I am well. They are not close to me, but they are going in the wrong direction, ”said a person who called 911 to report the incident. “I mean, they weren’t driving recklessly – I’m not trying to say that they’re driving recklessly – but they were on the wrong lane, and it’s just that they found me going up the ramp and scared the shit out of me.”
Mike Kagay, the Republican district attorney in Shawnee County, said police officers put “stop sticks” on the road to deflate the vehicle’s tires, with an officer saying Suellentrop almost hit them.
Suellentrop was arrested the night of the incident, but the judge concluded that there was not enough in the arrest report to keep him in prison, according to ABC News.
“We are grateful that no one was hurt,” said Republican Senate President Ty Masterson and Vice President Rick Wilborn. “We continue to pray for Gene and his family.”
The Hill contacted Suellentrop’s office for comment.