Norman arrested, charged with DUI

Trainer Cole Norman, who is awaiting trial on a manslaughter charge stemming from a February automobile accident in Hot Springs, Ark., was arrested Monday in Haughton, La., and charged with driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Norman was in custody at the Bossier Maximum Security Facility as of Wednesday afternoon, with his bond set at $102,000, according to Lt. Ed Baswell, public information officer for the Bossier Sheriff's Office.

Norman, 38, was charged with DWI, hit and run, simple criminal property damage, and possession of the drugs Lortab, a painkiller, and Xanax, which is used to treat anxiety disorders. He didn't have a prescription for either medication.

Norman was arrested Monday at 2:30 p.m. A witness called authorities saying he observed Norman hitting a row of 10 mailboxes in a vehicle and then leaving the scene. Baswell said Norman was lethargic and had poor dexterity when apprehended by authorities, and admitted to taking Lortab and Xanax and to purchasing both drugs on the street.

Jamie Pratt, an attorney who is representing Norman in Arkansas, did not immediately return a phone call Wednesday. Norman is scheduled to go to trial in Hot Springs on Feb. 14 after pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges in a head-on car collision that left an 86-year-old woman dead last Feb. 5. He was found to have painkillers in his system following that accident, but held valid prescriptions for those medications, according to authorities in Hot Springs. Norman broke his neck in an all-terrain vehicle accident in December 2005.

Norman, who lives near Haughton, has won nine training titles at Louisiana Downs and six at Oaklawn Park. He last started a horse on Feb. 11, 2007.