FROM STAFF REPORTS
TRAVERSE CITY -- A Traverse City man faces his second drunken driving charge in less than a year.
Ben Campbell Thirlby, 47, is charged as a habitual offender with third-offense drunken driving. A Grand Traverse sheriff's deputy arrested him May 23.
A person saw Thirlby's vehicle leave Mancino's restaurant on U.S. 31 South, court records show, and alerted police because he believed Thirlby might be intoxicated.
The deputy spoke with Thirlby at a nearby video store. The deputy allegedly smelled alcohol and noticed that Thirlby had difficulty maintaining balance.
Thirlby previously was convicted of drunken driving in September 2007 and June 1993, records show.
