Western Bulldogs midfielder Lachie Hunter is set to be charged by police after an alleged drink driving incident.
According to AFL.com.au reporter Mitch Cleary, Hunter's car was found at 9:00 pm last night, with the 25-year-old suspected of leaving the scene after he hit multiple parked cars.
He was later located at a South Yarra address and given a preliminary breath test, with the reading coming in at 0.123, more than twice the legal limit.
BREAKING: Western Bulldogs vice-captain Lachie Hunter set to be charged by police after he is believed to have fled the scene of a crash where he hit four parked cars and was more than two times the blood alcohol limit. More soon @AFLcomau
— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) April 16, 2020
This is the damage to Western Bulldogs vice-captain Lachie Hunter’s car after he is alleged to have hit four parked cars while intoxicated last night.
— Mitch Cleary (@cleary_mitch) April 16, 2020
FULL STORY: https://t.co/x0nXuZFlQ4 pic.twitter.com/p6v2iTJsB5
Hunter's licence was also suspended for 12 months, along with receiving a $1652 fine for breaching public health orders.
Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon confirmed the news, suggesting that the incident was not reflective of his character.
“We’ll obviously investigate and football is pretty prominent in people’s lives, but this isn’t the message we want to send,” Gordon told SEN Breakfast.
“When we know more about it we’ll have more to say about it.
“Lachie is a good young man and sadly it is a reflection of not dealing at all appropriately with the pressure a lot of people are under and the circumstances in which we live.
“You can’t use that as an excuse, this is behaviour we don’t want to see and we’ll get an explanation for it, get the circumstances, but the message we want to send is people is during these difficult times is you need to put extra effort into sticking to the community effort.”
Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon responds to Lachie Hunter incident #AFL pic.twitter.com/vUblWxjdC9
— Garry and Tim (@SENBreakfast) April 16, 2020
The club also released a statement on Friday morning, confirming that they were investigating the issue.
"The Western Bulldogs are aware of an incident involving Lachie Hunter on Thursday evening," the statement said.
"The Club is in the process of investigating the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, and will confirm details when possible."
Hunter has played 128 games for the club since debuting in 2013, elevated to vice-captain for the 2020 season.
The incident comes just 12 months after he signed a five-year extension with the club.