King County prosecutors have charged a 45-year-old Kent man with felony DUI after a Washington State Patrol trooper pulled him over for investigation of drunk driving March 19, just 17 days after he was sentenced for an earlier DUI in 2010.
Patrick Harold Rigg also was sentenced in 2002 on a vehicular assault charge in King County when his vehicle severely injured a pedestrian, according to charging papers. In that case, Rigg ran a stop sign and had a blood-alcohol level of .22, way above the legal limit of .08.
Rigg remained in custody Wednesday at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He is scheduled to be arraigned April 4 at the Regional Justice Center. Bail is set at $150,000.
“Given his unwillingness or inability to not become intoxicated and drive, he is a very grave danger to the community,” senior deputy prosecutor Amy Freedheim wrote in March 23 court documents. “Given his history, he knows the dangers that he places on innocent citizens and yet still he continues to drive impaired.”
Rigg is on active probation for the DUI in 2010, for which he was sentenced March 2. He also has a DUI from 1987 as well as convictions for driving with a suspended or invalid license in 1985, 1990 and 1991. He received a speeding citation in 2008.
In the March 19 incident, a trooper spotted Rigg leaving the Central Pub in Kent and allegedly driving in a manner that alerted the officer that the driver might be impaired, according to charging papers.
Rigg reportedly made a wide turn coming out of the bar and drove from one lane into another lane and nearly struck a curb. He also drove about 18 mph in a 40 mph zone.
The trooper reported that Rigg’s eyes were watery and red and he had the obvious odor of intoxicants on his breath. He had slurred speech and admitted to drinking four beers. Rigg had trouble performing field sobriety tests. He agreed to take a breath test and blew a result of .14.
When asked if he believed his driving was affected by alcohol, Rigg reportedly told the trooper, “I don’t think I was that bad.”
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