Son of daredevil motorcyclist Evel Knievel charged with drunken driving

(Reuters) - The son of daredevil motorcyclist Evel Knievel was arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving in his father’s hometown of Butte, Montana, after setting off a chain-reaction collision and fleeing in his vehicle, authorities said on Wednesday. Robbie Knievel, 52, was stopped by authorities a block away from where witnesses told police he slammed his Chevrolet Yukon into the back end of another vehicle, which then hit a third vehicle in a Tuesday evening accident that inflicted no known injuries, said Butte-Silver Bow Undersheriff George Skuletich. Knievel, who like his late father has gained a measure of fame by performing daring motorcycle jumps, initially refused to identify himself and said injuries prevented him from performing a field sobriety test, Skuletich said. Police obtained a search warrant to draw a blood sample after Knievel refused a breath test for alcohol, Skuletich said. A Montana judge on Wednesday ordered the younger Knievel released from the county jail on his own recognizance provided he check in with authorities twice daily for a breath test while his case works through the legal system. Evel Knievel, who died in 2007, brought attention to Butte, a copper-mining town of about 35,000 residents, with celebrated motorcycle jumps in the United States, Canada and Britain. (Reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)