Posted on 04/10/2009 2:47:51 PM PDT by ButThreeLeftsDo
A 42-year-old man is accused of being drunk while driving his riding lawn mower to a SuperAmerica in Hutchinson, Minn., buying beer and then zigzagging along city streets on a ride that included a public display of bladder relief.
Darwin L. Christensen, of Hutchinson, was charged today in McLeod County District Court with drunken driving and urinating in public. A breath test indicated that his blood alcohol level was .21 percent, far above the limit used to determine drunkenness in DWI cases.
Christensen is no stranger to overdrinking and operating a motor vehicle. State records show he has pleaded guilty at least four times, twice each in 1986 and 1996, to drunken driving. His rap sheet also includes convictions for disorderly conduct, fleeing a police officer, felony property damage and felony burglary.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
He just needs to say that he took the “Obama pledge” and was doing his SERVICE to OTHERS by mowing for free.
Case dismissed!
Does anyone really thing a SOBER person would be driving a lawnmower to the store?
Hey, wait a minute - what was their probable cause? I mean, did he do anything that might be construed as unusual?
Since a riding lawn mower isn’t licensed as a vehicle and doens’t require an operator’s license to drive, I think the only charge they can get him on is public intoxication and public urination. I don’t think the DUI will stick. Sure sounds like an interesting neighborhood, though.
“zigzagging along city streets”
“a public display of bladder relief”
Might have got the attention of LEOs....
;-)
Now wait a minute. You’re tellin’ me is isn’t OK to take a leak off a moving lawn mower in the middle of town? Who knew?
That’s gettin’ awful close to home..
Three guys are out fishing in a lake when one snags an old oil lamp and reels it in.
His buddies rib him about whether it is magic and he decides to give it a try. He rubs and, much to everyone's suprise, a very old Genie comes out coughing and wheezing. When the coughing and wheezing die down, the Genie announces he is only good for one wish, having been underwater so long and having caught a cold.
The guy who hooked the lamp, like all his buddies, has had a little too much to drink and makes his wish.
"I'd like for this lake to be turned into ice cold beer!!", he says. And just as quickly, the Genie says "done!" and slithers back into the lamp.
For awhile, the guy and his fishing buddies are happy, dipping in their bailing bucket and passing it around to drink their fill.
But when one has to pee, he screams "Idiot, now we're going to have to put into shore or I'll have to pee in the boat!"
Doesn't say anything about a “licensed” vehicle or anything needing a drivers’ license. If you are operating an unlicensed vehicle (let the tags expire perhaps), still counts, as does driving a go-cart, doesn't matter, you are on a public street and driving while drunk.
I suppose every other state is nearly the same. You operate a motor vehicle while drunk, you are “toasted.”
A lawn mower is a yard tool, not a “motor vehicle”. If it’s not covered by statute, the court will have to settle for less than DUI. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Is George Jones back on the bottle again?
Have fun sticking to it.
A motor vehicle is “any vehicle with a motor.”
Let me know how it goes when you ride the old blade-cutter down main street while intoxicated. Try that argument of the judge. I look forward to hearing from you.
;-)
I think that it is possible to get a DWI conviction in most states for riding a bicycle drunk too.
I only drink beer after using an old fashioned push-mower on a very hot day. Guess I won’t be the one to test my theory.
Could the judge suspend his mower operator’s certificate or impound his lawn mower? Could he send the man to lawn mower safety school or put a breath-a-lizer start switch on his John Deer?
And a horse, in some states, as well!!
The funny bit is that if he indeed bought the beer at a Super America gas station here in MN, it would be 3.2% alcohol, or less....
Nothing new here.
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