photo by: Elvyn Jones

A Douglas County Sheriff's Office vehicle is pictured in this file photo from August 2017.

A Lawrence man was arrested on suspicion of a DUI early Tuesday morning after he allegedly almost struck sheriff’s deputies while they were conducting a field sobriety test in a separate DUI incident.

George Diepenbrock, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said in an email to the Journal-World that deputies were conducting a field sobriety test on a driver who had been stopped heading westbound in the 300 block of Locust Street in North Lawrence around 2:20 a.m. when another vehicle driving eastbound crossed the center line of the road as it approached deputies who were directing traffic.

The deputies had to move out of the way to avoid being struck by the vehicle, Diepenbrock said. One of the deputies then pursued the vehicle and stopped the driver, David Dearborn, in the 700 block of Locust Street, where he was arrested.

Dearborn, 54, was also arrested on suspicion of two counts of aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and driving with a suspended license. Diepenbrock said no injuries were reported and information about the incident was forwarded to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office for charging consideration.

The incident occurred less than a day after the sheriff’s office announced it would increase patrols for impaired driving during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as the Journal-World reported.

“Impaired driving is dangerous to everyone on the roads in our community, and we encourage everyone to celebrate responsibly and avoid impaired driving especially during this holiday week and holiday season,” Diepenbrock said in the email Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Dearborn remains in Douglas County Jail custody with no bond set.

The driver in the separate DUI case — Jon S. Kubricki, 25, of Lawrence — was arrested on suspicion of a misdemeanor DUI. He was released from custody Tuesday morning after posting a $250 cash or surety bond.