Man charged with 8th DUI

By Abby Morris
Star Staff
amorris@starhq.com

   A Roan Mountain man was arrested early Thursday morning after law enforcement officers found him sitting in his vehicle which had parked in oncoming lanes of traffic on U.S. Highway 19E.
   Michael Glenn Puckett, 40, 358 Smith Branch Rd., Roan Mountain, was arrested by Carter County Sheriff's Department Deputy Loretta Cloyd and charged with eighth offense DUI, violation of the implied consent law and violation of the Habitual Motor Offender law.
   According to reports, Tennessee Constable Leonard Johnson observed a red Mercury Tracer parked in the roadway facing oncoming traffic, and he notified other officers.
   Upon Cloyd's arrival on the scene, she observed that the male driver of the vehicle, later identified as Puckett, sitting in the vehicle and he appeared to have passed out. "Mr. Puckett was awakened by officers and was asked why he was parked in the location that he was. Mr. Puckett was very disoriented and was very difficult to understand what he was saying," Cloyd states in her report. "Eventually officers understood him and he stated that he was parked there because officers had stopped him."
   At that time, officers asked Puckett if he had consumed alcoholic beverages to which he responded that he had in fact been drinking, according to Cloyd's report.
   "Mr. Puckett had turned the ignition and lights off when he parked his vehicle in the road," states Cloyd in her report. "Mr. Puckett had a strong odor of alcohol on his person and had a can of open beer sitting in the seat between his legs."
   Puckett was then asked to step out of the vehicle by officers in order to perform a field sobriety test. According to the report, Puckett performed poorly on the field sobriety test, which was stopped based on his unstable condition.
   Officers placed Puckett into custody and transported him to the Carter County Jail. "Upon booking in the jail facility he stated to jailers that his name was Lee Harvey Oswald and refused to answer any questions stating that he wanted the jailers to appoint him an attorney," Cloyd said in her report. "Jailers explained to Mr. Puckett that they were not allowed to appoint him an attorney but offered him the phone to notify one. Mr. Puckett then proceeded to yell at the jailers."
   Puckett was then advised of the Tennessee Implied Consent law and asked to submit to a breathalyzer test, which he refused.
   According to the report, Puckett has seven prior convictions for DUI, five of which occurred in Carter County.
   He is scheduled to appear in General Sessions Court on June 21.