A Blount County commissioner, Earl McMahan, Jr., is facing charges after allegedly crashing his car while intoxicated in Maryville, Tennessee.

Just after midnight on April 4, Maryville Police Department officers responded to the 300 block of South Fourth Street, where McMahan had driven through a fence and continued another 40-50 feet into a homeowner’s backyard before coming to rest in a ditch.

Officers found him needing assistance to exit his vehicle. While helping him to an ambulance, they observed that he was extremely unsteady on his feet, had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, and repeatedly became distracted, grabbing onto objects for balance—including ripping up a damaged fence post from the accident scene.