Meghan Markle's Estranged Half-Brother Thomas Arrested for DUI

Meghan Markle's estranged half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., was arrested for DUI Friday.

Thomas, 52, was stopped by Oregon State Police at 1:33 a.m. and taken into custody, reports TMZ. Police performed a field sobriety test and claimed his "impairment was obvious," according to the site.

Thomas took a breathalyzer test, which showed he had a blood-alcohol level of .11, while the legal limit in Oregon is .08.

After his arrest, Thomas was taken to the Grants Pass Sobering Center and his Chevy Silverado was impounded.

"My son has a serious problem and he needs help, and I hope he gets it," Thomas' father, Thomas Markle Sr., told TMZ.

"His drinking is not related to Meghan. He always drank," Samantha Markle, Markle's and Thomas' sister, also told the outlet.

Thomas has had run-ins with the law in the past. In January 2017, he was arrested for getting into a drunken fight with his girlfriend and pointing a gun to her head.

Although Thomas has not attracted the same number of headlines as Markle's sister Samantha or her father, he has attracted plenty of attention since his half-sister got engaged to Prince Harry. After he spoke out in October, Samantha called him a "delusional alcoholic."

Earlier this week, he did an interview with The Daily Mail, announcing his engagement to his girlfriend of two years, Darlene Blount, 38. He said he sent an invitation to the Duchess of Sussex, in the hope that his wedding can bring the family together.

"Absolutely I think our wedding will bring the family closer together. It's hopeful that if Meghan and Harry came and my father – Meghan and Harry could spend some time together with him and that would be good," he told The Daily Mail.

"Starting out the New Year by bringing our family closer together is definitely on the to-do list – it's very important," Thomas continued. "[The wedding] would be a perfect time for Meg to get together with my dad – who is her father as well – and just put all the past behind everybody and move on and be a closer family again. My dad would really enjoy that. Possibly it will bring the family closer – especially if everybody shows up."

Blount told The Daily Mail that her first impression of her future husband was that he is "crazy."

"It was kind of funny because it was around the time Meghan and Harry started dating. He told me about it and I thought he was completely crazy," Blount said of the first time they met. "I remember that very well – Meghan and Harry had just started dating and I mentioned it to her and she looked at me like, yeah, who is this guy? Whatever! He's crazy. But it turned out really nice and we've had a really good time ever since. Ups and downs but we've managed to make it so far."

In his most recent interview, Thomas Sr. told The Sun he insisted he will "probably get louder" while waiting for the Royal Family to finally reach out to him.

Photo credit: Getty Images