Tennessee State Sen. Ken Yager urinated on himself when he was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) after a hit-and-run crash in Georgia on Tuesday afternoon, the Georgia Department of Public Safety has confirmed.
The Kingston politician, 77, who chairs his state’s Republican Senate Caucus, was apprehended in the parking lot of gourmet grocery store Jekyll Market at around 5pm, according to The Tennessean.
Troopers had recognized his black Ford Edge and its out-of-state licence plates as the vehicle being sought in connection to an accident with another car on Jekyll Island, authorities said.
But when troopers responded to the vehicle, they found emergency responders already attending to Yager after he had tripped and fallen over.
The Republican subsequently took part in a field sobriety test, a video of which was later obtained and posted on Instagram and X by News Channel 5.
In the video, he was seen struggling to walk in a straight line with a dark stain visible on the front of his cargo pants, leading to online speculation that he had suffered a further embarrassment during his ordeal.
That detail was confirmed by the officers’ incident report, which recorded that Yager had urinated on himself during the sobriety test, which then had to be cut short as he proved unable to stand safely on one leg.
The incident report also noted the state senator had admitted to having had a “couple glasses of wine previously in the day.”
He also allegedly claimed to have spoken to the driver in the earlier accident, believed no one was harmed and was not aware that the collision was under investigation.
The arresting officers “detected a distinct odor of alcohol on his breath” and asked Yager to take a breathalyzer test, which returned a breath alcohol content of 0.14, well above the legal limit of 0.08.
He was arrested and charged with the hit-and-run, failing to stop at a stop sign and DUI.
Yager was booked into Glynn County Jail and released in the early hours of Wednesday morning on a $2,117.70 bond.
“An unfortunate incident happened last night,” Yager said in a statement on Wednesday.
“On the advice of my attorney, I cannot discuss the particulars at this time. I am and will continue to cooperate fully with authorities to bring this incident to an appropriate conclusion.”
The Independent has reached out to Yager for further comment.
The lawmaker could be required to step down from his caucus leadership if he is indicted over the incident, in accordance with Tennessee Senate ethics guidelines. However, the rules grant him 10 days to request an appeal hearing before the Ethics Committee.
Yager worked as a teacher earlier in his career, then served as Roane County attorney between 1978 and 1982 and Roane County executive from 1982 to 2006, before entering the Tennessee Senate.
His current term expires in November 2028.
