Missoula County Sheriff deputies responded to a welfare check when they found a man passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle. Deputy County Attorney Brittany Santorno says deputies identified the man as John Walker Jr. and noticed something rather suspicious at the scene.

"They did find he was on a [BI TAD] bracelet, which tests for alcohol and is directly in contact with the skin, for another open felony DUI that we have here in our office," said Santorno. "He had attempted to block the signal of that bracelet by putting what law enforcement reported as a pig's ear. He also put a buckskin between his skin and the bracelet."

The pig’s ear and buckskin helped prevent the alcohol monitor from measuring the alcohol content of Walker’s sweat. Santorno says other measures may be needed after this DUI charge.

"They can also get a portable breath testing unit where they are scheduled and given a window of an hour or two to provide a sample," Santorno said. "There is facial recognition technology. They provide a photo initially and then the device scans their picture when they blow into the device for their test to make sure that their photo syncs up with the photo they have already provided."

Walker is charged with felony DUI, this is his eighth offense. The use of the pig's ear may result in an additional charge for tampering.

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