CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / SONOMA COUNTY
Sonoma County’s head of drunk driving and drug addiction programs has been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
Tom Newell, a supervisor in the Department of Health Services’ drug and alcohol services division, was arrested Friday after authorities spotted him driving recklessly just west of Sebastopol.
The California Highway Patrol says Newell is believed to have been under the influence of a painkiller.
Toxicology tests are still pending and he is due in court on June 18.
Newell says he’s been taking prescription painkillers for chronic pain from five knee surgeries and a hip replacement. He says he wasn’t feeling well at the time, which is why he was driving recklessly.
-- Associated Press
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