By Christin Coyne | ccoyne@weatherforddemocrat.com
WEATHERFORD - According to a statement released by a family spokesman, Walmart heiress and Parker County resident Alice Walton, arrested on a charge of DWI last week, accepts full responsibility for the incident.
“Ms. Walton was pulled over by a patrolman with the Department of Public Safety for driving 71 mph in an unattended 55 mph construction zone,” Walton’s attorney, Dee J. Kelly, said in a statement. “She was returning home from a birthday dinner with friends at a Fort Worth restaurant. She accepts full responsibility for this unfortunate incident and deeply regrets it.”
Walton was stopped on Interstate 20 in a construction zone near South Main Street in Weatherford for a traffic violation shortly after 10 p.m. by Trooper Jeff Davis, according to Senior Trooper Gary Rozzell.
“Through an investigation at the scene, [Walton] was determined to be intoxicated during a field sobriety test,” Rozzell said.
Walton refused a breath test, according to Rozzell.
She was arrested for driving while intoxicated, first offense, a class B misdemeanor, and transported to the Parker County Jail, Rozzell said.
According to jail records, Walton was booked into jail shortly after 11 p.m. Friday and released on $1,000 bond around 8:40 a.m. Saturday.
Walton was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1998 in Springdale, Ark.
According to an Associated Press report of the trial, police officers testified Walton repeatedly refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test after being involved in a crash with a gas meter and telephone box.
One officer testified she asked if he knew who she was and knew her last name, according to the AP story.
After being released by police in Arkansas, Walton reportedly requested a blood test, which showed Walton’s blood-alcohol level at 0.16.
However, Walton testified she had had a few drinks but wasn’t drunk, according to the AP account.
Walton was also involved in crash that resulted in the death of a 50-year-old pedestrian in 1989, according to other news accounts.
No charges were filed in that case.
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