Thomas Markle Jr. has been arrested for drunk driving — just days after announcing his recent engagement, WHO confirms.
Meghan Markle‘s estranged half-brother was stopped by Oregon State Police at 1:33 a.m. on Friday. According to police, Thomas Jr. took a breathalyzer test after performing a field sobriety test and had a blood alcohol concentration of .11 percent. (The legal limit for driving under the influence is .08.)
Thomas Jr., 52, was arrested and taken to the Grants Pass Sobering Center. His car was also impounded, authorities confirm to WHO.
This isn’t the first time the Duchess of Sussex’s half-brother has been in trouble with the law. He was arrested for domestic violence in Jan. 2017 after holding his girlfriend, Darlene Blount, at gunpoint during a drunken fight. Blount, who is now his fiancée, ended up dropping the case the following month.
Sources close to Meghan previously revealed to WHO that she has “no relationship with her half-siblings, nor has she ever had one.”
“They were out of the house by the time she was born,” the source added of Thomas Jr. and Samantha Markle, children from the first marriage of Meghan’s father, Thomas Sr.
Her half-brother also has a history of being outspoken, after he wrote a scathing letter published in the tabloid InTouch in May claiming that their dad had not received an invitation to the royal wedding and that Meghan had largely shut him out of her life. (The palace later refuted those claims.)
Despite their rocky history, Thomas Jr. says he intends on extending an invitation to Meghan and Prince Harry, for when he marries girlfriend of two years, Darlene Blount, in March.
“Absolutely I think our wedding will bring the family closer together,” he told DailyMailTV. “It’s hopeful that if Meghan and Harry came and my father, Meghan and Harry could spend some time together with him and that would be good.”
This story was previously published in PEOPLE
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
