Seattle slugger cited for DUI;
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New Seattle Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson was cited for drunken driving last weekend after being stopped for speeding. Sexson, who signed a $50 million, four-year, free-agent contract with Seattle in December, was stopped Feb. 5 near his Clark County home. Linda Dozoretz, a spokeswoman for Sexson, confirmed late Friday that he was stopped for speeding and was later “charged with driving under the influence.” Dozoretz said in a statement that Sexson was not impaired “based on the two Breathalyzer tests he later took.” She said she was confident the charges would be amended. A spokesman for the county prosecutor was not immediately available Friday night. Sexson entered a plea of not guilty on Wednesday, according to court records. Clark County sheriff’s Deputy Gregory Chaney said he initially stopped Sexson for speeding, according to two television reports. The deputy estimated Sexson’s speed in excess of 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. The deputy said in his report that he suspected Sexson was intoxicated after noticing a “strong odor of intoxicants emitting from the driver’s window,” and seeing an opened six-pack of beer bottles in the back seat of the car. According to the report, Sexson refused to take a portable breath test at the scene and then failed a series of field sobriety tests. An hour later, Sexson took two breath tests at the sheriff’s office, both times registering below Washington’s legal intoxication threshold. The sheriff’s office said in a statement late Friday that Sexson submitted two breath samples and was then cited for DUI, but the statement did not provide the results of those breath tests. Repeated calls to sheriff’s office spokesmen were not returned Friday night. “It is our understanding Richie was originally stopped for driving over the speed limit,” Mariners spokesman Tim Hevly said, adding that the team was told Sexson “took and passed two Breathalyzer tests.” A career .271 hitter with 200 home runs, the 30-year-old Sexson injured his left shoulder last season with Arizona and didn’t play after May, batting .233 with nine homers and 23 RBI. |