The former chairman of the Ladd-Peebles Stadium board knocked over construction barrels and got into a brief scuffle with a police officer while being arrested and charged with drunken driving, Satsuma Police Chief Chris McLean said Wednesday.
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| Milton Joyner |
Mobile police assisted in Joyner’s arrest, Levy said.
Joyner on Wednesday disputed the account of a scuffle.
“I did not have a scuffle with a police officer,” Joyner said. “I politely got out of the car, and they handcuffed me and took the car and took me to jail.”
Joyner, 72, of Mobile, was booked into the Mobile County Metro Jail shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to jail records. He was released shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday with bail set at $1,000, records showed.
Joyner had previously been arrested and charged with driving under the influence in 1992, records showed.
Satsuma Chief McLean said he was traveling south on Interstate 65 in Mobile about 8 p.m. Tuesday, following a meeting, when he saw a silver four-door Mercedes approaching from behind in the far left lane.
Construction crews repaving the left lane near the Dauphin Street exit had placed barrels to divert traffic to the right.
The Mercedes struck “about 10 or 15” barrels, which rolled into the roadway, McLean said. Drivers were “pulling into the emergency lane,” the chief said, trying to get out of the way of the Mercedes.
One of the barrels ended up under the Mercedes, although the driver continued on, McLean said.
McLean said he turned on his signal lights and siren and chased the car a little more than a mile before it stopped near the Government Street exit.
“He did resist arrest and had to be physically restrained,” McLean said.
There was “significant damage” to the front of the Mercedes, McLean said. The barrel trapped under the car wasn’t removed until it was towed, he said.
No charge of resisting arrest appeared on the jail records.
Milton Joyner thought police were chasing someone else
Joyner said that he had three shot glasses of Courvoisier cognac at a bar before heading home. He said he usually he traveled on Government Street to get home but decided instead to take the interstate.
Joyner said that he saw the police lights behind him, but “I thought they were chasing somebody else.”
“They said, ‘Mr. Joyner, you hit a sign and almost hit a man.’ I didn’t see any man.”
Joyner said that he took the breath analysis because he understood that his driver’s license would be automatically suspended if he did not take the test.
His blood alcohol content was determined to be 0.10, he said Wednesday. In Alabama, 0.08 is the legal limit.
“I didn’t think I had enough to drink to be DUI,” he said. “The only thing I can do is go to court and hope that everything is going to be all right.”
Joyner said, “I regret that the incident happened. I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”
The Ladd-Peebles Stadium board ousted Joyner as its chairman in October 2010, following an overtime controversy that saw about $100,000 spent without proper approval. He tendered his resignation from the board Oct. 28, 2010.
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