UNIONTOWN – It was a trip downtown for the Alcohol Beverage Commission, this time with an ABC employee in custody.

Joseph Daniel Davis, II, 25, of Prattville, a salesman for ABC, was arrested Nov. 6 about 1:45 a.m., according to Officer Robert Sykes, who made the arrest.

Sykes said Davis registered a .10 on a breathalyzer test. The legal alcohol limit for people over 21 years of age in Alabama is .08.

To complicate matters, Sykes said Davis had a “shotgun between his legs” when he opened the car door.

Sykes didn’t give Davis a chance to go for the gun.

“I went ahead and took it from him,” he said. “He didn’t try to use it, but I didn’t give him a chance to,”

Davis also didn’t appear to be drinking any of the state’s profits. Sykes said the only alcohol he confiscated from Davis’ privately owned vehicle was beer.

The ABC Board controls alcoholic beverages through distribution, licensing and enforcement. The Board operates a chain of retail stores selling the majority of liquor purchased in Alabama.

Alabama ranks among the nation’s leaders in per capita revenue from the sale of alcohol, but does so while maintaining one of the nation’s lowest levels of per capita consumption.

The ABC Board also licenses commercial firms to sell alcoholic beverages. These range from restaurants and nightclubs to small stores selling beer for off-premises use. Applicants for a license are examined carefully to ensure the individuals involved are of solid moral character and will ensure the laws of Alabama and the rules of the Board are obeyed. The proposed site for selling or dispensing of beverages is checked through neighborhood survey. After a license is issued, the ABC Board continuously inspects operations of licensees.

The Board also conducts audits, collects taxes, and disburses revenue obtained from those taxes, and disburses revenues from the ABC stores. In Fiscal Year 1999-2000, over $151 million in net revenue was generated for the State of Alabama, according to the agency’s web site.

A spokesperson for ABC said the agency would look into Davis’ arrest, but did not return the phone call for this story.