Virginia Mayor Showed Up at Train Derailment Drunk: Cops

A Virginia mayor who won office on a write-in wave is now facing a very different kind of attention. Paul Morrison, the 57-year-old mayor of Rich Creek, was arrested Tuesday and charged with public intoxication after authorities say he showed up drunk at the site of a Norfolk Southern train derailment, according to local station WSLS, which cited jail records and unnamed sources. Details on Morrison's behavior at the scene and what led deputies from the Giles County Sheriff's Office to arrest him have not been publicly outlined. Records show he was taken to New River Valley Regional Jail and later released on his own recognizance, reports Fox News. WSLS has video of Morrison at the scene.

The afternoon derailment occurred near the tiny town of about 750 residents on the Virginia-West Virginia border, and involved soybean oil, which officials labeled non-hazardous as cleanup crews went to work. Morrison secured the mayor's job in November with 77 write-in votes out of 106 total votes amid a wave of resignations and internal turmoil at Town Hall. He has not publicly commented.