Allegedly drunk man wandered into church

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COOKEVILLE, Tenn., July 19 (UPI) -- A Tennessee sheriff said a man who wandered into his church as a service was ending and asked for ibuprofen was arrested on a charge of public intoxication.

Putnam Sheriff David Andrews said he was attending a Wednesday night service at the Jefferson Avenue Church of Christ in Cookeville and Gregory Blaine Wade, 42, wandered in just as the service was ending, the Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, reported Tuesday.

"It was obvious something was wrong and we tried to help him. He said he had just been released from the hospital and he had a bandage on his knee, but was asking for ibuprofen for his wrist," Andrews said.

Andrews said he wanted to help Wade but the man soon became argumentative and the sheriff noticed a strong smell of alcohol on his breath.

Wade said he called his office and Deputy Trevor Barrett responded to the scene.

"I arrived at 7:59 p.m. and Sheriff Andrews had a male subject against the wall by the exit of the church," Barrett wrote in his report. "The male subject was unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech and an odor of an intoxicant about his person."

Wade was found to have a half-empty bottle of beer in his bag and he was arrested on a public intoxication charge.

The suspect was later released and arrested again the following day by a Cookeville police officer responding to a call about Wade drunkenly sleeping on a bench near a store.