Son of daredevil motorcyclist Evel Knievel charged with drunken driving

(Reuters) - The son of daredevil motorcyclist Evel Knievel was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving in his father's hometown of Butte, Montana, after setting off a chain-reaction collision and fleeing in his vehicle, authorities said on Wednesday.Robbie Knievel, 52, was stopped by authorities a block away from where witnesses told police he slammed his Chevrolet Yukon into the back end of another vehicle, which then hit a third vehicle in a Tuesday evening accident that inflicted no known injuries, said Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich.Knievel, who like his late father has gained a measure of fame by performing daring motorcycle jumps, initially refused to identify himself and said injuries prevented him from performing a field sobriety test, Skuletich said. Police obtained a search warrant to draw a blood sample after Knievel refused a breath test for alcohol, Skuletich said.A Montana judge on Wednesday ordered the younger Knievel released from the county jail on his own recognizance provided he check in with authorities twice daily for a breath test while his case works through the legal system.Evel Knievel, who died in 2007, brought attention to Butte, a copper-mining town of about 35,000 residents, with celebrated motorcycle jumps in the United States, Canada and Britain.(Reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)Join the conversation about this story
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