How much have you had to drink, deputy asks? ‘I decline to respond,’ the suspect says

A Hilton Head man charged with driving under the influence on Monday after he backed into a gas pump took what amounted to “The Fifth,” declining to respond when a deputy asked him how much he had to drink.

A deputy was sitting in the parking lot of the Kangaroo Express on Palmetto Bay Road around 7:55 a.m. when he saw the driver of a black Nissan sedan back into the pump, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

When the deputy spoke with the driver, he had glossy, “glazed over” eyes and “very slurred speech.” The man was also “very unsteady on his feet” when asked to get out of the vehicle, almost lost his balance, and smelled of alcohol, the report said.

When the deputy asked the man how much he had to drink. the man replied: “I decline to respond,” the report said. The man also declined to submit a breath sample or perform impaired driving tests.

He was charged with DUI and taken to the Beaufort County Detention Center after he was examined at Hilton Head Hospital for any injuries from the crash.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 3:55 PM with the headline "How much have you had to drink, deputy asks? ‘I decline to respond,’ the suspect says."