Boone County man charged with his ninth DWI, kidnapping

A Boone County man is sitting in jail after he was charged with his ninth DWI. He’s also charged with kidnapping in the same incident.

Court documents say Richard Wilhite, 53, of Sturgeon crashed his truck into a ditch along Route V just south of Sturgeon last week.

When two people stopped to make sure Wilhite was not injured, Wilhite apparently forced himself into their car and implied he would harm them if they didn’t drive him home.

Police said the couple drove him home out of fear.

They called 911 after dropping him off at his Sturgeon home, telling police they believed he was drunk.

Troopers found the wrecked truck halfway in the ditch, blocking the northbound lane of Route V.

Court documents said the truck smelled like alcohol and troopers found a plastic bag with Oxycontin pill inside the truck.

When law enforcement went to Wilhite’s house, a trooper attempted to administer a sobriety test, but Wilhite was apparently too impaired to even stand up.

Documents go on to say he was uncooperative with law enforcement throughout the incident.

According to the probable cause statement, troopers believe Wilhite is a danger to the community because he is a chronic DWI offender and continues to drive despite having four active 10 year minimum denials on his driver’s license.

Wilhite has been in and out of prison since the early 2000s.

He’s being held at the Boone County Jail on a $100,000 cash only bond. His next court appearance is September 18.