Local Practitioner arrested for OUI

By Greg Bird
birdman@tmcvoice.com

A Whitley City man is facing OUI and other charges following a Sunday night incident in Pulaski County.
Dustin C. Hamlin, 34, a practioner with Appalachian Family Clinic, was arrested by the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office after allegedly driving while intoxicated, crashing through a fence and leaving the scene without stopping.
According to the arrest citation Pulaski County 911 Dispatch was alerted to a possible hit-and-run accident on Ferry Road in Somerset. A witness reported a Dodge pick-up, towing a boat had run through a fence at the intersection of Oak Hill Road. The witness observed the truck drive through a wooden fence then turn around in a field- causing additional damage to a barbed-wired fence around 10:00 p.m.
The witness reportedly followed the vehicle until it stopped at a Burnside gas station, where Officers from the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene.
Officers spoke to Hamlin, and his passenger, identified as Harvey Meadows, where they admitted they had been fishing and had consumed alcohol. Hamlin originally stated he was not driving the vehicle, and Meadows reportedly attempted to claim he was driving, but Hamlin later confessed that he was operating the vehicle at the time.
The officer noted a strong smell of alcohol around Hamlin who was given a field sobriety test. Hamlin refused a breath test and was taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital where he also refused a blood draw.
Hamlin was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and criminal mischief. Meadows was charged with alcohol intoxication in a public place.
Hamlin has a pre-trial conference scheduled for May 23 in Pulaski County District Court.