McGavick, in '93 DUI arrest, flunked three field sobriety tests

U.S. Senate candidate Mike McGavick was stumbling drunk when he was pulled over by a Montgomery County, Md., sheriff's deputy 13 years ago, and he understated how much he had had to drink, according to the deputy's arrest report.

McGavick failed all of the standard field sobriety tests before his arrest and fell asleep in the jail while waiting to be booked, said the report, which The Seattle Times obtained through a public-records request. His blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent, more than double the current legal limit of 0.08 percent in both Washington and Maryland.

The report notes that the blood-alcohol test was administered an hour and a half after McGavick's arrest.

McGavick, a Republican, is challenging Sen. Maria Cantwell. He has characterized his drunken-driving arrest as one of "two great failures" in his life. The other was a divorce.

McGavick spokesman Elliott Bundy said the candidate is "disappointed that he's now being attacked for his candor." Bundy said McGavick had come forward last week and revealed the DUI "under no pressure from anyone."

"He apologized for it," Bundy said. He explained any discrepancies between McGavick's initial version of the event and the facts laid out in the police report as the result of faulty recollection of an event 13 years old.

When McGavick disclosed the event, he did not discuss details.

The deputy pulled McGavick's white Mazda Miata over about 3:30 a.m. Nov. 21, 1993, after he watched it "drive through a steady red signal." When McGavick divulged the arrest last week, he said he had cut a yellow light too close.

The deputy approached the car and reported that when McGavick rolled the window down he "could detect a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage from the interior."

"[I] then asked McGavick how much he had to drink tonight McGavick responded, 'Oh, I don't know — two, maybe three beers," the report said.

Blood-alcohol level calculators available on the Internet note that a 180-pound man would have to drink more than eight beers in an hour to achieve a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 percent.

The deputy wrote that McGavick failed each of three field sobriety tests, including the "horizontal gaze test," which measures how smoothly an individual's eyes can track an object. If the eyes jerk at a certain point, it may mean an individual is impaired. Both of McGavick's eye's jerked as the deputy monitored their movement, the report said.

McGavick also failed the heel-to-toe walk. "McGavick shifted his feet and stumbled once," the deputy wrote. He was also unable to stand on one leg and could not follow the deputy's instructions.

"[I] then instructed McGavick [to take] the one-leg stand test. McGavick attempted to begin the test three times and was reportedly told ... not to begin until told to do so," the deputy wrote. McGavick lost his balance and had to put his foot down after 15 seconds. "He swayed through the test, hopped up and down and put his foot down again at 21 seconds, 27, 28 and 29 seconds," the report said.

McGavick was taken to a sheriff's substation, where he "consented to a test of his breath. During processing, McGavick fell asleep," the report said.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com