Crime & Safety

Disgraced South Carolina Treasurer Arrested on DWI Charge in East Hampton

Thomas Ravenel served time on drug charges in 2007.


Thomas Jonathan J. Ravenel, whose father Arthur Ravenel Jr. was a longtime South Carolina congressman, was arrested early Monday morning in East Hampton Village on a drunken driving charge. 

Ravenel, who is 50 and lives in Charleston, SC, was charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, as well as two violations for driving on the shoulder and failure to keep right. 

East Hampton Village police said in a report that police saw him driving a 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser swerving on Montauk Highway at around 2:10 a.m. He allegedly crossed over the solid white line onto the shoulder and the yellow line on Montauk Highway, near Cove Hollow Road. He was stopped near Stephen Hands Path.

Police said his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, his eyes were glassy and red, and he was unsteady of his feet. He failed several roadside sobriety tests. 

He allegedly admitted to police that he had been drinking earlier, but refused to take a breath test at headquarters. He did however submit to a breath test in the field, police said.

He was released on bail, according to Captain Mike Tracey.

Elected SC Treasurer in 2006, Ravenel resigned in 2007 amid a drug scandal and spent seven months in federal prison on cocaine possession charges. He now plays polo. 

Ravenel's East Hampton attorney Trevor Darrell declined to comment.


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