The Associated Press

LIMA, Ohio - A county sheriff's employee who oversees an area drug task force was arrested on drunken driving charges twice on the same day.

Sgt. Clyde Breitigan, 51, was charged with driving under the influence, failure to stop after an accident and reasonable control.

He pleaded not guilty. But his lawyer, Bill Kluge, said Sgt. Breitigan accepts full responsibility. "He acknowledges that he had consumed twice the legal amount of alcohol and is willing to accept responsibility for having done so," Mr. Kluge said.

Sgt. Breitigan, supervisor of a narcotics task force, was not working when he was stopped on Nov. 26. Police said a mirror on a van he was driving hit a tree.

Sgt. Breitigan's blood-alcohol level tested at 0.20, or double Ohio's legal limit for driving a motor vehicle, police said.

He was released into the custody of a sheriff's official who drove Sgt. Breitigan home. Allen County Sheriff Dan Beck said Sgt. Breitigan left his home later in the day and was driving an unmarked county car when deputies stopped him and charged him again with DUI.