After news of the incident somehow remained silent for three weeks, the Indians announced today that Austin Kearns was arrested in Kentucky on February 12 and charged with a DUI.
Asked why he didn’t tell the Indians about the arrest and instead let them find out only after it was published in a Kentucky newspaper, Kearns said it was “the advice I was given.”
According to the police report Kearns was “flashing his headlights and weaving” and told the arresting officer that he’d consumed “a couple bourbon and cokes” at a local bar. He refused to take a field sobriety test and allegedly “advised that he played professional baseball and asked if I could cut him a break.”
He has a court date scheduled for March 10, but Kearns told Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he won’t have to leave Indians camp to attend the hearing. Kearns declined to comment on the case, but indicated that this is the first time he’s been charged with a DUI.
