Former SC treasurer Thomas Ravenel charged with drunken driving in NY's Hamptons

Former South Carolina state treasurer and multimillionaire Thomas Ravenel has been charged with drunken driving in the Hamptons in New York.

Police say the 50-year-old Ravenel was arrested around 2:30 a.m. Monday in East Hampton Village. Police say he drove on the shoulder and crossed a double yellow line. Officers say Ravenel failed several field sobriety tests and refused to take a Breathalyzer test.

Ravenel said in a statement he had been drinking but wasn't drunk and plans to fight the charges.

Ravenel resigned as treasurer in 2007 after the Republican was indicted on cocaine charges. He pleaded guilty and served 10 months in prison.

Ravenel is a multimillionaire land developer and his father, Arthur Ravenel Jr., represented South Carolina in Congress in the 1980s and 1990s.