Robert James O’Neill, the former member of SEAL Team 6 who claimed to have shot and killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in a 2011 raid, was charged with DUI on Friday in his hometown of Butte, Montana.
According to George Skuletich, the undersheriff of Butte-Silver Bow City and County, local officers responded to the parking lot of a local convenience store after multiple complaints of a man sleeping in the front seat of his car with the engine running.
The officers recognized O’Neill, 39, and proceeded to wake him. After a brief conversation, the officers noticed that he was impaired, said Skuletich. The officers then administered one field sobriety test — known as the horizontal gaze — that O’Neill failed. O’Neill then refused any further field sobriety tests and was detained.
At the local jail, O’Neill took and failed a second sobriety test and then refused to take a breathalyzer or blood test. He was charged shortly afterward and released on bond for $685. His license is currently suspended, and in the interim he was given a 72-hour temporary driver’s license, as it was his first offense, said Skueletich. O’Neill is expected to appear in court Monday.
In an emailed statement, O’Neill said he had taken a prescribed sleep aide prior to his arrest.
“While the timing was bad and I highly regret this decision, I am innocent of the charge and have entered a plea of not guilty,” O’Neill said.