Tennessee man with autism becomes latest sober driver to be arrested for DUI
An Autism expert says law enforcement officers need more training on how people with autism handle field sobriety tests
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (InvestigateTV) — By the time Charlie Hatch was pulled over on the night of Oct. 29, 2024, he’d worked a 12-hour shift and attended youth group at church.
His family says he felt better setting the cruise control on his drive home so he didn’t speed, and he accidentally hit the wheel in the process, swerving across the center lane.
A Hendersonville officer, K. Gibson, was driving home himself that night, and according to the warrant and body camera footage, he saw Hatch swerve six times over the center lane.
Gibson pulled Hatch over and relayed to Sumner County deputy Gabriel Yap what he experienced.
“He’s kind of slurring a little bit. I checked his eyes. Eyes are not good,” Gibson said in the body camera footage.
Yap then took over the investigation, asking Hatch a series of rapid-fire questions.
“He you had anything to drink tonight?” Yap asked.
“No, sir,” Hatch responded.
“Before youth group?”
“No, sir.”
“During youth group?”
“No, sir.”
“After youth group?
“No, sir.”
“Nothing in the car?”
“No, sir.”
That rapid-fire questioning would come into play long after the events of the night.
As quickly as Yap asked the questions, Hatch responded. But within minutes, he began to express confusion.
“Why are we stumbling? Why are we slurred speech?” Yap asked as Hatch walked out to perform the field sobriety test.
The body camera footage shows a clear look of confusion on Hatch’s face. “Huh?” he replied.
“You were using your truck for balance when you were stumbling a bit,” Yap said.
“Because my legs were tired from the twelve-and-a-half-hour shift,” Hatch responded.
In the affidavit from that evening, Yap notes that Hatch had slurred speech and had to restart the walk and turn test.
The video shows Yap explaining how to do the test, and Hatch stops halfway through.
“Well, I was supposed to count, right?” Hatch asked and then started over.
Yap had also asked Hatch a question that is required before a field sobriety test is given.
“Do you have any medical problems?” Yap asked.
“No, sir,” Hatch responded.
“Nothing wrong with your eyes?”
“No, sir.”
The end result was Hatch being loaded into Yap’s cruiser in handcuffs. Shortly afterward, the events of that night took a turn.
Body camera video shows Hatch’s parents, Andy and Andrea, arriving, telling Yap something he hadn’t heard.
“He has autism,” Andrea said.
“Does he?” Yap asked.
“Yes,” Andrea replied.
Investigative Reporter Jeremy Finley examines more in this story.
Is AI impacting your community? Find out more with InvestigateTV’s mAnIpulated: A Misinformation Nation
Copyright 2025 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
