Olympic Medalist, Pro Wrestler Kurt Angle In Court On DUI Charge

POSTED: 4:12 pm EST January 15, 2008
UPDATED: 8:16 pm EST January 15, 2008

CORAOPOLIS, Pa. -- The case against TNA pro wrestler and Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, who was charged with driving under the influence and careless driving, will go to trial in Pittsburgh.

District Judge Mary Murray ordered Angle to stand trial after listening to evidence at a preliminary hearing on Tuesday. The trial date has not been determined.

Slideshow:

Kurt Angle Through The Years In Pittsburgh

Police said they got calls about Angle's driving after he left a restaurant in Moon Township on Sept. 28.

One witness said she saw Angle pull out of the Sea Shell Bar and Grill on Beaver Grade Road, claiming Angle almost hit another vehicle.

Angle's white Cadillac Escalade nearly struck a car, according to one driver's account, Moon police said.

"We're disappointed the magistrate would allow such a case to continue on, based solely on the testimony of a witness who, herself, faces a DUI charge filed by the same department," defense attorney Mike Santicola said. "There has to be some articulable fact that the police officer saw on each element of this crime. They don't have it here."

Days after Angle's arrest, in an interview with WTAE Channel 4 Action News, Santicola said police had not pulled the wrestler over on the road but instead knocked on the door of his home looking to interview him.

When the officers went to Angle's house, they said he showed signs of intoxication and they explained that someone had reported his erratic driving.

Police said they smelled alcohol and gave Angle a field sobriety test, which they said he failed. But Santicola disputed the police account of the field test.

Also, the lawyer said Angle was permitted to call his agent during the incident -- something Santicola said he's never heard of happening before -- and was advised over the phone not to submit to a blood test.

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