Alexander Whitehouse of Newport, the 19-year-old son of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, was arrested early this morning on charges of driving under the influence (DUI). 

His passenger, 18-year-old Robert Bauer of Portsmouth, was also arrested for alleged possession of marijuana.

Police said around 1:25 a.m., a witness called the Middletown Police to report a car that was operating in an erratic manner at the intersection of Green End Avenue and Aquidneck Avenue in Middletown. 

The witness said the passenger was holding a beer bottle and both individuals in the car appeared to be intoxicated. The car allegedly drove into the 7-Eleven on Aquidneck Avenue at a high rate of speed and two men stumbled out of the car, said police.

When police arrived, Whitehouse reached into the front passenger’s side door, took out a beer bottle and emptied its contents onto the ground, said police.

Whitehouse reportedly told police he had been at a party in Portsmouth and was on his way home to Newport, but stopped to get gas. He allegedly told police he had three beers and four shots of gin at a friend’s house within the past two hours.

Whitehouse failed the field sobriety tests and was arrested. At the Middletown Police Station, he agreed to a chemical test which returned a blood alcohol content of .091 and .091 at 2:53 a.m.

Major Terry W. Hazel with the Middletown Police Department said the case will be handled in the same manner as any other arrest.

Police reportedly found marijuana, a glass pipe, a brass pipe, beer bottles, an empty vodka bottle, a silver flask that contained gin, a full bottle of gin and a large knife in a sheath in the car.

Whitehouse was also cited for presence of alcohol while operating a motor vehicle and for the transportation of alcoholic beverage by a minor. Bauer was also cited for underage alcohol consumption.