An Isle of Wight County sheriff’s deputy accused of driving drunk on patrol has been suspended and charged.

The Sheriff’s Office arrested one of its own, Deputy Preston Saul, during the early-morning hours of July 16 after a fellow deputy on nighttime patrol said in court filings he’d discovered 29-year-old Saul, a resident of Gates County, North Carolina, passed out in the driver’s seat of a car with the engine running.

Deputy Alecia Paul, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, confirmed Saul was “acting in his capacity as an Isle of Wight County Deputy” at the time he was taken into custody and relieved of duty.

According to witnesses, the incident occurred near the Franklin Regional Airport in the southern tip of the county.

Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Chad Beale said in an affidavit filed at 4:30 a.m. that day that Saul had been “difficult to wake up” and had a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage about his person, bloodshot and glassy eyes and appeared confused.” 

The affidavit alleges Saul to have “refused to participate in SFST,” initials for the standardized field sobriety test that law enforcement officers can ask a motorist suspected of driving impaired to perform. Beale said he transported Saul to the Franklin Police Department, where a breath test showed Saul to have a blood alcohol content of 0.09, just above the 0.08 legal limit that constitutes drunk driving. A search of Saul’s car, according to Beale’s affidavit, revealed an opened bottle of Twisted Tea, an alcohol-infused iced tea drink, behind the car’s center console.

Saul has been placed on administrative leave without pay, Paul said. Court records show Saul was released on a summons and is scheduled for a July 24 arraignment  on a Class 1 misdemeanor charge of first-offense driving while intoxicated.

“Sheriff (James) Clarke values professionalism, integrity, and the public’s trust,” Paul said. “These are principles that define those who serve the citizens of Isle of Wight County and we will continue to hold the men and women of the Sheriff’s office to the high standards our citizens deserve.”

Saul was hired as a patrol deputy in October 2023 after serving for just over 18 months as a Suffolk police officer.