MOULTRIE, Ga. — An Omega man was arrested on DUI and other charges on Saturday afternoon when police investigated a report of a driver passed out on a four-lane highway.

An officer dispatched at 2:17 p.m. to the 5300 block of U.S. Highway 319 North found a van stopped in the right north lane of the roadway. When he arrived a Norman Park Police officer who arrived earlier told the deputy that the driver was intoxicated and pointed out a cup containing a suspected alcoholic drink in the console of the 2002 Chrysler Town & Country van.

Verstell Willis, who was behind the wheel, was slow to respond to questions and initially indicated he had drunk “1, 2, 3 ounces” of alcohol, according to Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office reports. A portable alcohol sensor indicated that Willis was more than three times the 0.08 blood alcohol content at which a driver is considered legally impaired.

Later Willis told the officer that he had been drinking beer two to three hours earlier, police said. After an officer helped him out of the van Willis used the side of the van to balance himself as he walked toward the officer’s car.

After arrival at the jail Willis was unable to stand and after a check by a jail nurse the officer took him to Colquitt Regional Medical Center. There, a blood test indicated his blood alcohol content at 0.376, and the officer waited there until 7:20 when his alcohol level lessened and hospital personnel cleared him for transport to jail.

In addition to driving under the influence, police charged Willis, 70, 132 Hilltop Lane, with improper stopping.