Casey County deputies arrested a Tennessee man early Tuesday after stopping a stolen vehicle tracked from Lexington.

Around 2:30 a.m., Officer Jamie Smallwood located the car on U.S. 127 near Liberty and detained the driver, 40?year?old Dwight J. Mitchell of Gallatin, TN.

Deputies say Mitchell admitted to drinking and smoking marijuana before taking the vehicle, telling officers he’d “rather go to jail than deal with” the owner. He refused sobriety and blood tests but acknowledged being “a 10” on the impairment scale.

Mitchell was charged with DUI under aggravated circumstances, theft of an auto valued over $10,000, driving on a suspended license, and failure to surrender a revoked license. He was lodged in the Casey County Jail.