A 52-year-old man was arrested Saturday after driving a vehicle occupied by two passengers, including a toddler, into a creek off Sam Smith Road in the northeast part of Hamilton County.
The vehicle was partially submerged when Hamilton County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived not long after 5:30 p.m., according to Hamilton County court documents. They pulled a 3-year-old from the vehicle.
The child had been unrestrained and was holding a beer can in a coozie when he was pulled from the vehicle, court documents state.
The driver, identified as Tony Lewis, was becoming "agitated" while in the back of an ambulance when deputies tried to talk to him, court documents show.
"I could immediately detect the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming off his breath," one deputy wrote in an arrest report.
Multiple empty beer cans were found in the vehicle, along with a one-quart jar containing about a cup of moonshine, the arrest report states.
Lewis became "belligerent" and said he "wanted to fight" the deputies, according to the arrest report. And when he was told he was under arrest, he began to struggle and had to be "pinned against the ambulance." While deputies were trying to place him in the back of a patrol vehicle, Lewis kicked one of them.
Lewis was taken to a local hospital to be treated for his injuries. While there, he admitted to drinking while deer hunting, which was about 30 minutes to an hour before the crash, court documents state.
Lewis was taken to the Hamilton County Jail and charged with DUI, resisting arrest and open container law.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 9.