An Aiken couple was charged this weekend after reportedly driving drunk with their two children in the vehicle.
Robert Earl Gunnels III, 53, and Brandy Lee Gunnels, 40, both of the 1400 block of Audubon Drive, are charged with two counts of child endangerment or unlawful neglect of a child, according to jail records.
Robert is also charged with driving under the influence, over .10 but less than .16, while Brandy is also charged with failure to comply with police and disorderly conduct, records show.
Aiken Department of Public Safety officers responded Saturday around 6 p.m. to Wing Place at 732 East Pine Log Road in reference to a report of an intoxicated man attempting to drive away from the bar with a child, according to the report.
Investigators spoke with Wing Place employees, claiming a man and woman drank alcohol there for several hours with their two young children present.
When the couple was leaving, the male suspect allegedly bumped into a woman as she was walking in the restaurant. That woman called police, claiming the man smelled of alcohol and "dropped" one of his children he was carrying, the report states.
The suspects fled the scene by leaving through the restaurant's back lot.
Officers located the suspects' vehicle pulling in a driveway on Audubon Drive.
Two juveniles were seen getting out of the vehicle and standing in the driveway as police initiated a traffic stop. Police found Gunnels and his wife as driver and passenger.
Police reported an immediate "smell of alcoholic beverage" coming from his person. He was asked to perform a standardized field sobriety test, which police said caused him to begin "screaming and being disorderly."
Brandy was asked to step out of the vehicle by officers, but she resisted arrest. She was arrested for knowingly allowing Robert to drive drunk and endangering their two children's lives, police said.
The arrest warrant states Brandy had to be detained by multiple officers in order for her to be placed into handcuffs and put into a patrol vehicle. She reportedly attempted to kick the windows of the patrol car.
Robert and Brandy were both taken to the Aiken County detention center, where they were still being held Monday afternoon.
Their two children were placed into protective custody, investigators reported.
