Authorities: Summerville High School assistant principal charged with DUI

SUMMERVILLE, SC (WCSC) - Authorities have charged a local high school administrator with DUI just over a month after being arrested on criminal domestic violence charges.

Dorchester County deputies say Summerville High School assistant principal Christine O'Rear was arrested on Dec. 20 on a charge of driving under the influence. DCSO officials say O'Rear also failed a sobriety test and refused a breathalyzer.

According to the sheriff's office, O'Rear had been arrested in November after deputies responded to her home for a domestic violence incident where she was the aggressor.

O'Rear's latest arrest stems from an incident on the early morning hours of Dec. 20 when a deputy responded to the parking lot of Minky's Bar on Highway 17A and Hayes Road after an officer with the Summerville Police Department stopped an SUV due to complaints that the driver was passing out

According to authorities, witnesses found the driver, later identified as O'Rear, passed out in the area of Boonehill Road at Logan Drive. The witnesses say after they woke the driver, she drove away.

The Summerville police officer reported that she was not able to catch up with O'Rear, who was driving "dangerously," until they had left Summerville police jurisdiction.

Police say at one point, O'Rear was driving 25 mph in a 55 mph zone, and driving in and out of the oncoming lane. According to a police report, after the officer had stopped O'Rear's SUV, O'Rear told the officer that she had 2 or 3 bars before driving and was coming from a local bar.

Investigators say O'Rear's eyes were watery and bloodshot, with her speech being thick and slurred. The police officer also reported an odor of alcohol coming from her.

Authorities say when the officer requested O'Rear to get out of the vehicle, O'Rear shook her head left to right "indicating no."

"I asked Orear if she thought she was DUI or something, and she continued shaking her head but wouldn't get out," a police report stated.

The officer said O'Rear reluctantly got out of the vehicle. Police say following a number of tests and O'Rear's poor performance of the tasks, the officer determined O'Rear's ability to drive was impaired and was a danger to the public.

The officer then asked O'Rear if she thought she was driving under the influence to which Orear replied,"I believe I should have had less to drink that what I've had."

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