Former Chattanooga Assistant Police Chief Charles Fearn Cooke has been arrested after a county deputy said he witnessed his vehicle almost strike the same car twice.
Cooke, 61, of Hundley Road, was charged with DUI, reckless driving, violating traffic control signals and failure to maintain lane.
In the incident on Thursday, a deputy said he was patrolling Highway 58 at 9:26 p.m. when he saw a vehicle traveling east on Hickory Valley Road at a high rate of speed.
He said the vehicle traveled through a red light on Highway 58, almost striking a vehicle on the passenger side.
The deputy said the vehicle went south on Highway 58 and swerved from the left lane into the right lane, almost striking the same car again.
He said the other vehicle would have been hit both times had he not slammed on the brakes each time.
The deputy said he got behind the Cooke vehicle and stopped it. He said Cooke was very unsteady on his feet. He said he had him sit on his patrol vehicle so he was not stagger into the roadway.
He said Cooke had slurred speech and an odor of alcohol.
Cooke said he had a "couple of drinks" that night.
Cooke said he had undergone two back surgeries and issues with his legs, so there were no field sobriety tests.
However, there was a blood draw. The result was not listed.
Cooke was assistant chief in 2007 when he and Skip Vaughn were demoted. They both filed suit against Police Chief Freeman Cooper and Mayor Ron Littlefield on grounds of age discrimination, and won their case.