On May 22, 2025, at approximately 2:52 p.m., Deputy Nikolas Brendel of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, while patrolling Dartmoor Drive in Fairfield Glade, encountered Michael Allen Short, a 51-year-old male, seated in a white 2019 Dodge 1500 pickup with an expired Florida tag.

During their interaction, Short admitted he was already in court for a prior DUI charge in Tennessee.

Deputy Brendel detected the odor of marijuana from the vehicle and, with Short’s consent, conducted a search, finding a broken scale but no contraband. Corporal Janow, arriving at the scene, noticed the smell of alcohol on Short, who admitted to consuming a Bloody Mary about three hours earlier and had recently received a shot of ketorolac, a muscle relaxer, for a hand laceration treated that day.

Exhibiting slurred speech and glassy eyes, Short was asked to perform standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs) due to these observations, his admission of alcohol consumption, the marijuana odor, and the medication’s potential impairing effects. Initially refusing, Short complied after being informed of his impending arrest for driving under the influence (DUI).

He showed impairment during the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus and walk-and-turn tests, though he performed well on the one-leg stand. Consequently, Short was arrested for DUI and taken to Cumberland County Jail, where a blood search warrant was executed.

His bond was set at $1,500, with a court date scheduled for June 16, 2025.