Xanax and Twisted Tea blamed by alleged negligent driver | The JOLT

By Danny Stusser

An allegedly intoxicated man was reported by a store employee after being observed stumbling through a restaurant, then driving across Littlerock Road in Tumwater, on Friday, August 13, just after 5 p.m.

Maxwell Larry Gunter, 22, was charged with negligent driving after a Pizza Hut employee, who feared he was a danger to the community, called 911 to report him behind the wheel of his white Mercedes.

Tumwater police arrived to witness Gunter’s vehicle drive out of the shopping complex containing the Pizza Hut store, then headed straight across Littlerock Road.

Police activated their emergency lights, attempting to pull over the vehicle, but it continued to drive away without stopping.

Gunter’s vehicle allegedly drove into on-coming traffic, striking a curb without taking any evasive action to avoid it, then pulled over at a stop sign entering the Costco parking lot.

When contacted by TPD, Gunter said that he had been arguing with his girlfriend, who was the passenger in the vehicle.

Gunter’s speech was slurred, his eyes droopy, but a responding officer felt that the reaction was delayed in a different manner from a typical alcohol DUI.

Gunter refused to take the voluntary field sobriety test. Gunter told TPD that he had recently left rehab for opioids, but that he had only had a Twisted Tea, an alcoholic beverage, an hour earlier. Gunter’s girlfriend told TPD that both she and Gunter had Xanax.

Gunter was booked into the Nisqually Jail for negligent driving.