Man Suspected of Intoxicated Driving; Admits Taking Prescirpiton Painkillers

Wilkesboro police ticketed a man for driving while impaired after finding him run off the road into a ditch at Industrial and YMCA Road Saturday morning. Officers were called to the single-vehicle wreck about 5:25 am, and found 18-year old Joseph Corey Hawkins passed out in the front seat of the car, which had run off the end of the road into an embankment. It took an officer several attempts to wake him up, and it took the efforts of several people including EMS crews to keep him awake once he'd woken up. THe officer describes Hawkins pupils as constricted, or very small, and says he was slurring his words. Hawkins admitted to taking two prescription painkillers. The report does not say how much of each he admitted taking. Blood was drawn at the hospital for a toxicology test, and any further charges are pending the results of that test. He was ticked for suspicion of driving under the influence and for an unsafe movement.