A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper has been charged with driving under the influence.
The Jackson Sun reports 36-year-old Daryl Veliz was arrested Monday in Paris, Tennessee, and later freed after posting bail.
A Paris police statement says an officer saw a man slumped over in an idling car near a roadway that morning. It says open alcohol containers were in plain view, and a loaded handgun was inside the car. Police say Veliz also did poorly on a field sobriety test.
Veliz also was charged with possessing a firearm while under the influence of alcohol and refusing to submit to a breathalyzer test in violation of state law.
State authorities say the trooper was off duty. Now he's on paid leave pending an internal investigation.