Charges filed against Kansas Senate majority leader

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – One of the Kansas Legislature’s most powerful lawmakers has been charged with driving under the influence and a felony offense for trying to elude law enforcement.

Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop is also accused of speeding the wrong way on a highway in Topeka.

He faces a total of five criminal charges, including the felony count, the misdemeanor DUI count and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

The Wichita Republican turned himself in at the local jail. His bond has been set at $5,000. The charges were announced by local Republican District Attorney Mike Kagay.

The accusations stem from Suellentrop’s early-morning arrest March 16 on Interstate 70 just blocks east of the Statehouse.