Kentucky football star Chris Rodriguez arrested for DUI, careless driving on Sunday
University of Kentucky running back Chris Rodriguez faces three charges — operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, careless driving and no tail lamps — following an arrest early Sunday morning.
At 3:14 a.m., Rodriguez was pursued by a University of Kentucky Police Department officer after they observed a black Dodge Durango without its tail lamps activated traveling southbound on South Limestone Street prior to Waller Avenue. Rodriguez stopped at a gas station near Southland Drive and Nicholasville Road after “a delayed amount of time to yield,” according to the arrest citation filed with Fayette District Court. The vehicle before then was “not maintaining its designated operating lane,” the officer wrote.
According to the citation, the officer observed that Rodriguez’s speech was slurred and that there was “an odor of alcoholic beverages coming from within the vehicle.” Rodriguez agreed to a horizontal gaze test but refused to perform other field tests while outside of the vehicle, according to the citation. He displayed “the involuntary jerking of the eyes indicating alcohol consumption” during the gaze test, according to the citation.
The officer wrote that Rodriguez, 21, admitted to having consumed “one or two shots of alcohol” at Belle’s Cocktail House, a bar located downtown near the intersection of Church and Market Streets. He was transported to the Fayette County Detention Center, where he refused an evidential breath test.
“We are aware of the incident and we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops,” UK Athletics spokesperson Susan Lax told the Herald-Leader.
It was Rodriguez’s second driving-related incident in less than a year. The senior last July was charged with improper start from a parked position, according to Fayette County court records. He paid a $163 fine that resulted from that event.
Rodriguez was the football team’s leading rusher each of the last two seasons. In 11 games last year he finished with 1,238 yards and eight rushing touchdowns, and is the leading returning rusher in the Southeastern Conference for the 2022 season.
A member of UK’s running back room since 2018, Rodriguez was a three-star recruit in the 2018 signing class. He has 2,740 career rushing yards, sixth all time in school history.
This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 9:33 PM.
