North Augusta City Council member faces DUI charge
NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A North Augusta City Council member who’s serving as mayor pro tempore was arrested Friday night on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to authorities.
At 10:28 p.m., North Augusta police said they responded to the area of East Avenue and Woodlawn Avenue for an impaired driver.
A person was driving a silver Honda on East Avenue with the headlights off and then disregarded a stop sign at Woodlawn Avenue, according to the North Augusta Public Safety.
Police said Councilwoman Jenafer Forward McCauley was identified as the driver.
According to the report, McCauley itted to drinking, stating she had two margaritas at a downtown Augusta restaurant around two hours earlier.
Police reported her eyes were red, watery and glossy. McCauley’s speech was slurred, and she smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the North Augusta Public Safety.
During the stop, a standardized field sobriety test was done and found to be “indicative of impairment,” according to police.
A police report states McCauley had pulled into the driveway of her home and police left the keys with her husband on the scene.
McCauley was then taken to the department’s headquarters, where a breath sample ed an alcohol concentration of 0.14%, according to police.
According to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, state law prohibits driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or higher.
According to the Aiken County Detention Center, McCauley was released on a $1,224.50 bond. She was charged with one count of DUI, according to inmate records.
According to North Augusta’s city website, her term expires in May 2025.
We reached out to McCauley for a statement.
“On Friday night, I was at Lookaway Inn. The area is well-lit, and when I drove away, I failed to turn on my headlights. As I pulled into my driveway about .25 miles away from Lookaway Inn, an officer approached me. Subsequently, I was accused of DUI. This matter must be resolved in a courtroom where all of us as citizens have the right to have such matters resolved. I would like to ask for privacy at this time, and will defer any other questions to my attorney who will be assisting me,” she said in an email statement to News 12.
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