FIRST ON 3: Investigators say Pender Co. deputy was drunk before wrecking car

ONSLOW COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Pender County Sheriff’s deputy is out of a job after being charged with DWI after a car crash in Onslow County this morning.

The Sheriff’s Office says dispatch began receiving calls that a Pender County patrol car was driving unsafely on US 17.

William Paluck was in uniform when his patrol car rear ended another car, investigators said.

Onslow County Dispatch said the fender bender happened at 7:48 a.m. at the intersection of Old Maple Hurst Road and US 17.

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office said before the crash, Paluck had stopped by his duty station at Topsail Middle School, where he was the school resource officer.

A worker at a gas station at the crash scene says the deputy was swerving all over the road.

Capt. J.T. Hock with the Pender County Sheriff’s Office says Paluck was notified that he no longer has a job as a result of what happened.

Paluck is due in Onslow County Court Sept. 18.