GATE CITY -- A Gate City man was arrested by town police late Wednesday night for allegedly wrecking a stolen car after taking an "excessive amount of cold medicine."
Christopher Gibson, 27, of Gate City, was taken into custody on charges of grand larceny, DUI and destruction of property for his role in the incident.
Gibson wrecked the car less than a mile from where it was allegedly stolen.
According to the Gate City Police Department, an officer was made aware of the wreck around midnight Wednesday when he was flagged down by a passerby and told of a possible car accident that had happened around mile marker 5 on U.S. Route 23 in Gate City.
When the officer arrived at the scene of the wreck, he found Gibson behind the wheel of a purple 1963 Chevrolet Biscayne that was located in the median of the highway.
Authorities said Gibson was trying to move the car out of the median and would not follow orders from the officer to stop and exit the vehicle.
Once Gibson was removed from the car, he allegedly admitted to the Gate City officer that he had "taken an excessive amount of cold medicine earlier that evening."
Gibson also allegedly told the officer that the he had taken the car from the Sunshine Sales auto dealership, which is located roughly a mile from where the vehicle ran into the median.
Authorities said Gibson admitted to taking the vehicle and driving it through the fence on the lot and almost a mile down Route 23 before losing control and leaving the roadway.
The car went more than 140 yards through the median before getting stuck in thick grass.
Authorities said Gibson was given field sobriety and blood tests at the scene of the accident.
Gibson was being held at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail in Duffield on a $6,500 bond.
