PROVIDENCE, R.I.—The 19-year-old son of Rhode Island U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse was charged with driving under the influence Wednesday in Middletown after police were alerted to an erratic motorist.

Alexander Whitehouse was arrested at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at a Middletown gas station after a person pumping gas called police to report that two apparently intoxicated people had pulled into the parking lot.

According to a police report, the younger Whitehouse acknowledged consuming three beers and four shots of gin at a friend's home in Portsmouth. Police say he failed a field sobriety exam and that a breathalyzer test indicated his blood-alcohol level was .09. The legal limit to drive in Rhode Island is .08.

The officer who administered Whitehouse's sobriety exam noted in his report that Whitehouse had a "strong odor of an alcoholic beverage," and his eyes were "severely bloodshot and glossy."

A search of Whitehouse's car turned up an empty bottle of vodka, an empty beer bottle and a half-empty bottle of gin, according to the report. An officer reported that when she arrived she saw Whitehouse remove an open beer can from the passenger side of the vehicle and empty it.

Whitehouse was also charged with transportation of an alcoholic beverage by a minor and with having an open container of alcohol in a moving vehicle.

Whitehouse was handcuffed and transported to the Middletown police station and was arraigned Wednesday morning. He is scheduled for a court appearance on Friday.

Sheldon Whitehouse and his wife issued a statement saying they were "deeply concerned and upset by our son's poor judgment."

"But we love Alexander and we will deal with this as a family," the statement said.

A passenger in the car, 18-year-old Robert Bauer of Portsmouth, was charged with possession of alcohol by a minor and possession of marijuana after police found a bag of suspected marijuana on the floor of the car in front of the passenger seat.

The arrest was first reported by WPRI-TV.

Last spring, Alexander Whitehouse was interviewed by investigators after attending a graduation-day gathering that police say featured underage drinking and was hosted by Gov. Lincoln Chafee's 18-year-old son.

Sheldon Whitehouse said last month that his son "briefly" visited Caleb Chafee at the Chafee family property in Exeter in the early afternoon of May 28 but did not consume alcohol while there.

Alexander Whitehouse graduated from St. George's School, a private school in Middletown, in May.

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