Rockingham County Commissioner Keith Mabe was arrested and charged with driving while impaired—-for the second time in seven months:
A spokesman for the Highway Patrol said Sunday that a trooper attempted to pull over Mabe at 9:21 p.m. at the intersection of Shady Grove and Meadowood roads in Eden. Mabe, however, didn’t stop until reaching his driveway at 254 Meadowood Road.
He refused a Breathalyzer test and was taken to the county jail in Wentworth.
Sheriff Sam Page said Mabe was released into someone else’s custody.
After the first DWI charge, Mabe stepped down as county commission chairman but remained on the board. Fellow commissioners say that in spite of the second DWI, they have no legal authority to remove Mabe from the board unless he is charged with a felony. Chairman Mark Richardson says Mabe’s conduct “doesn’t reflect how our county behaves as a whole.”
Update: Rockingham County Commission Chairman Craig Travis that Mabe did not voluntarily step down as chairman —the board voted 4-1 to remove Mabe as chairman and replace him with Mark Richardson.
