A 53-year-old Allen County judge arrested on a charge of drunken driving in downtown Indianapolis may have had a blood-alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit, according to a newly released Marion Superior Court probable cause affidavit.

Judge Thomas J. Felts – who hears drunken driving cases in Allen Circuit Court – took a portable breath test that measured his blood-alcohol content at 0.14 percent after he was pulled over by Indiana State Capitol Police near Monument Circle for speeding and failing to signal a turn early Friday morning. The legal limit for driving is 0.08.

A portable breath test is not admissible in court but gives police probable cause to take a drunken driving suspect to a county jail where a certified breath test can be given, which is admissible in court.

Felts failed to properly take that test twice after being taken to Marion County Jail on misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated and public intoxication charges. Police charged Felts with refusal to test, which will result in the suspension of his driver’s license due to Indiana law.

Results of a blood test that police took from Felts, which would give his exact blood-alcohol content, have not been made available.

Felts said his lawyer was scheduled to appear for him during an initial hearing in Marion Superior Court on Wednesday. He would be at work as normal, he said, hearing domestic cases. He typically handles alcohol-related cases but had switched his caseload with a circuit court magistrate, something he usually does for one week every month.

The affidavit also provided some new details of the traffic stop that led to Felts’ arrest.

He was signaled to pull over in his black Lincoln at 2:23 a.m. after turning onto West Market Street from Capitol Avenue but was slow to react. He put the Lincoln in reverse instead of park while pulled over, which caused his car to hit the squad car behind it. When asked by the officer if he had been drinking, Felts replied, “Oh yeah,” according to the affidavit.

Felts smelled of alcohol and he had glassy, blood-shot eyes, slurred speech and his “manual dexterity was poor while he tried to retrieve his driver’s license from his wallet,” according to the affidavit. He said he didn’t know why he had struck the police cruiser.

He had unsteady balance, according to the affidavit, and failed a field sobriety test where he was asked to follow something with his eyes. After being given the portable breath test, the officer decided not to offer any more field sobriety tests because Felts’ balance was “so unsteady I feared his safety may be at risk if he did anymore testing.”

Felts was cuffed and taken to jail for the chemical test. He waited at the jail for 20 minutes before making his first attempt at the test. Despite being told to give a “good constant breath sample” or he’d be charged with refusal to test, Felts could not maintain a constant blow of air from his mouth to the machine.

He was given another 20-minute wait and again failed to maintain a constant blow of air, according to the affidavit, and police ruled that he refused the test. Felts was then taken to an Indianapolis hospital for a blood draw.

Later that afternoon he was released from jail on his own recognizance.

Felts could face disciplinary action from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications, which polices judges. Judges found to have drunken-driving arrests are typically disciplined by the Indiana Supreme Court after an investigation by the commission.