The veteran ABC News reporter Sam Donaldson has been charged with driving under the influence in Lewes, Delaware Online reports. The ABC staple may be more accustomed to reporting the headlines than being featured in them but the 78 year-old found himself on the wrong side of the law earlier this month when cops caught stopped him for a traffic violation and he subsequently failed a sobriety test.

The newsreader was stopped by police on December 1, 2012 just before 8pm. The officers on the scene suspected that he may have been drinking, so they ordered him to take a sobriety test, which he subsequently failed. He was arrested and charged at the scene, for driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to remain in a single lane. He was then released, pending a court appearance. Donaldson’s actual blood / alcohol level is not known, as the local police chief Jeffrey Horvath has stated that it’s against their departmental policy to release such data. Horvath did comment, however, that “the only thing I can say is the officer said he was very polite and cooperative.”

Donaldson wasn’t available for comment. Donaldson has been a news reporter at ABC for many years and in 1977 became the White House’s chief correspondent, covering Jimmy Carter’s incoming administration. He went on to anchor other shows, including World News Sunday. In 1987, he published a memoir, entitled Hold On Mr President.