Dad arrested for DUI after passing out in elementary school pickup line, police say

MESA, Ariz. (3TV/CBS 5/Gray News) – A man in Arizona was charged with DUI after passing out behind the wheel of a car in an elementary school pickup line, police say.

According to Arizona’s Family, someone called the Mesa Police Department shortly after 3 p.m. Monday to report a parent was unconscious in a car in front of Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School.

Police say officers found a man trying to crawl into the passenger seat when they arrived. Witnesses told authorities he had been in the driver’s seat before they got there.

There were two young children in car seats in the vehicle who he had been waiting to pick up before passing out, according to court documents.

Officers said they noticed an open container of Twisted Tea in the driver’s side cup holder.

Documents state officers could smell alcohol on the man’s breath.

At first, he claimed he wasn’t driving but then allegedly admitted to taking a shot of Fireball Whisky and drinking Twisted Tea before driving to the school to pick up his kids, police said.

A preliminary breath test revealed he had a blood alcohol content level of .218, well over the legal limit.

He was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated DUI with a passenger under the age of 15, one count of extreme DUI, and one count of DUI with a blood alcohol content of .08 or more.