A Cottageville man who was allegedly involved in a DUI accident got a rude awakening by Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies last Sunday morning after he was found sprawled out asleep across the front seat of someone else’s car. 

Randall S. McClung, 44, of Cottageville faces misdemeanor charges in Magistrate Court following the incident. 

According to the complaint filed by Sheriff’s Deputy M.D. Strobbe, at 3:22 a.m. Sunday morning, he, Lt. C.C. Metz, and Deputy G.D. Baldwin responded to the scene of a motor vehicle accident on Route 87 near the Roundhouse Bar in Evans. Upon arrival, they observed a white Ford Ranger registered to McClung sitting vacant in the ditch line. A second vehicle, a Chevrolet Cavalier, was also near the scene with two occupants inside. 

The officers spoke to the Cavalier’s occupants who reported that their vehicle had been hit on the broadside by the Ford Ranger. Following the accident, they said the Ranger’s driver took off on foot. 

Deputies Baldwin and Strobbe then began a patrol of the Evans side streets looking for the driver of the Ranger. As Strobbe was driving down Linden Lane, a female resident opened her front door and began pointing across the street.

Strobbe exited his vehicle and spoke to the woman who said she observed a male subject banging on the front door of the house across the street and then entering a vehicle parked in that residence’s driveway. 

Deputies Baldwin and Strobbe approached the vehicle where they say they found McClung lying across the front seat. Strobbe opened the vehicle door which caused McClung to wake up. 

Strobbe observed blood on McClung’s lip and a cut on his chin. He also allegedly smelled the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from McClung’s breath. Strobbe ordered McClung to exit the vehicle and upon doing so, observed McClung to be very unsteady to the point of almost falling down. Strobbe handcuffed McClung and placed him in custody. He then spoke to the vehicle’s owner, Dianna Moore, who said she had heard a male subject banging on her door earlier that night, but did not answer. She was unaware that there was anyone in her vehicle. 

McClung was transported to the Ripley Police Department where three standard field sobriety tests were performed, all of which McClung allegedly failed. A license check revealed that McClung was convicted of driving under the influence in Jackson County in April 2001. 

Based upon the evidence gathered, McClung was charged with misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence (2^nd offense), leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, and vehicle tampering. He was arraigned in Magistrate Court and released on $4,000 bond.