A Tennessee county mayor faces a December date in a Bradley County courtroom on a DUI charge after a state trooper found him sitting along Interstate 75 surrounded by empty beer cans.
Jefferson County Mayor Mark Lee Potts, 65, of Cripple Creek Road in Dandridge was in a county-owned 2023 Chevrolet Tahoe when authorities answered a call about a man spotted lying face down on the side of the interstate, according to police records. Potts is free on a $2,000 appearance bond after his Sept. 27 arrest on charges of DUI and violation of the open container law.
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According to state Department of Safety and Homeland Security citations and supplemental reports filed in Bradley County General Sessions Court, Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Sammy Previlus answered the call to I-75 south, where he found a man at the 18.6 mile marker near the SUV.
"I saw a male party upright on the right side of the road. There were multiple beer cans around the male party," Previlus wrote in his report. "He stated he had pulled over because he wanted to be safe."
After Potts asked the trooper why he was there, Previlus told him there had been a report of a man face down on the side of the interstate.
"He stated that he was face down but got himself situated," Previlus said, noting he could smell alcohol on Potts' breath. "He stated he had been drinking and driving from Knoxville."
In a search of the Tahoe, officers allegedly found eight empty beer cans, one about half full and two others unopened, the report states.
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When Potts got up, the trooper said he observed Potts had urinated on himself, and his pants fell down while he was trying to walk, documents state. After allegedly failing sobriety tests conducted on the roadside, Potts was taken into custody and transported to the Bradley County Jail. While waiting in a patrol car to be booked, Potts urinated in the car seat, Previlus said.
According to the Standard Banner newspaper in Jefferson County, the Chevy Tahoe that Potts was driving is owned by the county. Potts had been advised by his attorney, Richard Talley, not to comment, the paper also reported.
Potts didn't immediately return a phone message left Thursday at the Jefferson County mayor's office in Dandridge — about a half-hour drive east of Knoxville — and Talley, his attorney, didn't respond to an emailed query or a message left at his office.
Bradley County court officials said Potts' Dec. 5 court date is for a preliminary hearing on the charges.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.