What is the spelling of DUI?
Last Saturday, a driver accused of driving under the influence gave an impromptu spelling spell to a South Carolina police officer as part of a “belligerent” antics as he was escorting him to jail, authorities said. He announced that he had challenged him to a bee contest.
Richard Anthony Demato proposed a verbal contest after he allegedly called a Mount Pleasant police officer an “idiot,” according to a police report cited by local media.
The 41-year-old suspect was first arrested after authorities found his red Grand Jeep Cherokee in a nearby Walgreens parking lot with a damaged right tire. Authorities said the man appears to have entered the parking lot after colliding with two cars.
As the officer walked up to him, Demato ran to the side of the Jeep and put his hands behind his back. Although he appeared unsteady and slurred during conversation; WCIV reported, Citing the police report.
Police arrested Demato, who smelled of alcohol, after he refused to take a field sobriety test, the report alleges.
During his arrest, Demato made gross obscenities toward officers and acted in a “wild and belligerent manner,” the police report said. According to WCSC.
He also allegedly threatened to harm a police officer while awaiting transport to a hospital where he would be medically cleared to be transferred to prison. Once there, he yelled at staff while kicking doors and equipment, authorities alleged.
According to the police report, Demato was on his way from the hospital to his cell when he tried to play a game and asked the officer to spell it, and he spelled out the word “Britain.”
Demato is also accused of kicking a police officer in the arm, and is charged with first-degree DUI, hit-and-run with property damage, and assaulting or resisting a police officer, according to the report.
He was reportedly released Monday on bail of approximately $16,000.
