He left warning his son not to drink — and returned home to a destroyed car, SC police say

Before going out Saturday, a South Carolina man's parting words to his 22-year-old son was to not drink alcohol, police say.

The son drank anyway — and he destroyed his father's car, according to the Spartanburg Police Department.

Tavarius Miller was not behind the wheel when he wrecked his father's 2003 Honda Civic, police said. Instead, the father, James Miller, returned home to find his son "hitting the car with a piece of wood," according to the incident report.

Police, who were called to the home by James Miller, said the "Honda Civic that had been completely destroyed."

When a police officer arrived, he found a group of people in front of the house saying that one person, soon identified as Tavarius Miller, was drunk and causing a scene, the incident report said. What was not as clear initially to police was which Miller owned the car.

Tavarius Miller told the officer, "Yeah I did that, but I paid for that car," the report said.

Police said Tavarius Miller "was grossly intoxicated to the point where his words were extremely difficult to understand, his balance was unsteady, and his eyes were bloodshot."

While interviewed by police, Tavarius Miller stated several times that he hit and damaged the car, but he could "because he bought the car," according to the incident report.

Police report that James Miller said his son drove the car but was not the owner. That was confirmed by the police after they ran the license plate and James Miller provided tax info, which showed he was the legal owner of the destroyed Honda.

James Miller then told police he left his Spartanburg residence about 8:30 p.m. to go to the store and visit his sister, leaving Tavarius Miller at home, according to the incident report. Before he left, James Miller "told his son to not be drinking any alcohol."

When James Miller returned home at 10:30 p.m., he saw Tavarius Miller hitting the car with a piece of wood, told him to stop, but "Tavarius continued to destroy the vehicle," police say.

Tavarius Miller was arrested for malicious injury to personal property less than $2,000, according to the police, who took the son to the Spartanburg County Detention Center.