London driver charged after vehicle found in Somerset Road ditch catches fire

LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — In the earlier hours of Wednesday morning, a London man was accused of driving under the influence when, minutes after deputies with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) asked him to get out of his car, it reportedly caught on fire within minutes.

The sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook that just after midnight on Wednesday, deputies were dispatched to Somerset Road in London in response to a vehicle in a ditch.

When law enforcement arrived at the scene, deputies saw the vehicle’s exhaust pipe was glowing red, and the driver, Manishkumar Patel, 44, of London, was allegedly trying to drive in reverse, according to an arrest citation.

Court documents showed that deputies opened the door and had to tell Patel multiple times to get out of the vehicle. Shortly after he did, the vehicle “became fully engulfed in flames within minutes.”

When asked if he had been drinking, Patel allegedly told deputies he had drunk “a little beer” and Jim Beam, according to a uniform citation.

After allegedly failing a field sobriety test, Patel was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol – first offense. He was lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Center.