Paulsboro mayor charged with DUI

Paulsboro Mayor W. Jeffery Hamilton is facing a number of charges from an alleged drunken driving incident, including refusal to submit breath samples.

Hamilton was pulled over by police around 12:25 a.m. last Saturday after someone called 911 and reported a car driving erratically along Kings Highway in Woolwich Township, about 10 miles south of Paulsboro.

Hamilton, driving a silver four-door 2006 Chrysler, was stopped about three-quarters of a mile away on Paulsboro Road, police said. He was then arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated, failure to maintain a lane, and reckless driving.

His vehicle, as is typical in drunken-driving cases in New Jersey, was towed and held for 12 hours.

Woolwich Township police said someone picked up Hamilton from police custody after he was arrested. The identity of that person was not available Friday.

Hamilton's blood-alcohol content was also unavailable, likely because of the refusal to give breath samples, police said.

Hamilton said by phone Friday afternoon that he couldn't talk much about the case but that he plans to keep his post as mayor.

"As much as I would like to respond to all this here, it's an ongoing legal issue," he said, "which my attorney's going to address on a later date."

Police said Hamilton's court date is expected to be Jan. 13.