Drunk Dad has 11y/o drive him home

[213th]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - A father who was too drunk to drive had his 11-year-old son get behind the wheel of his pickup and drive them home, authorities said.

Police stopped the boy late Tuesday after he was seen driving the 1992 Chevy truck the wrong way on a one-way street.

The boy's father, Frank Neff, 35, of Fairbanks, was too drunk to drive and had told the child to drive them home, police said.


Neff pleaded no contest to charges of reckless endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection with the incident. He was ordered to spend 15 days in jail and to take parenting classes. The boy wasn't charged.

"When you've got your 11-year-old son who is driving you around who is unlicensed, that creates a hazard not only for the child but for the public," said prosecutor Joe Dallaire.

The incident took place after Neff had been drinking beer and shots with a friend in an apartment at a downtown building, police said.

"He was really drunk," said Ron Schumann, who saw Neff in the hallway of the building, which has stores and apartments.

Schumann and a friend left the building as the same time as the father and son.

"My friend said, man, do you know what he is going to do? He's going to have his little son drive the truck," Schumann said.

They then followed the pickup with the child driver.

"He was going over the curbs," Schumann said. "He didn't know how to drive."

The boy then turned onto a one-way street.

"We called the police," Schumann said. "We just wanted to get him stopped right away so that he wouldn't go any further."

The boy passed the Fairbanks Police Department, where surveillance cameras reportedly caught him on tape, before officers stopped him, according to court records.

The officer saw Neff lean over and place a seat belt over the boy, the prosecutor said.

Neff told authorities that he had been teaching his son how to drive since the child was 8 years old.

Neff registered 0.193 - more than twice the legal limit - on a preliminary chemical breath test, so a DUI charge would have been likely had Neff been caught driving, Dallaire said.

"The only good thing that can be said about your conduct is that you didn't drive drunk," said Mary Greene, a magistrate who sentenced Neff on Wednesday.

[BEK]

I still would have charged him with a DWI. Seeing that he is in control of the motor vehicle. but again its in Alaska where that prolly happens all the time. if it was winter he coulda just let the dog sled take him home

[213th]

I still would have charged him with a DWI. Seeing that he is in control of the motor vehicle. but again its in Alaska where that prolly happens all the time. if it was winter he coulda just let the dog sled take him home

I haven't heard of it happening up here before(doesn't mean it doesn't). Alaska has a fairly tough stance on DUI though, and so now that you mentioned that, I'm suprised they didn't charge him. Also, it being Alaska, as sad as it is, I'm suprised that the kid wasn't drunk too...


In related news, a women in the lower 48 recently did the same with her 5 y/o son. WTF is wrong with people these days

Oh and about the dogsled...couple of the troopers I'm familiar with told me they've charged people with DUI for being on a dogsled intoxicated before (on public land). So again, I'm pretty suprised the father wasn't hammered...

[jmur5074]

Oh and about the dogsled...couple of the troopers I'm familiar with told me they've charged people with DUI for being on a dogsled intoxicated before (on public land). So again, I'm pretty suprised the father wasn't hammered...

That's kind of wierd.
Going off that theory, you could get a DWI riding a horse....or a bike....


In MN you have to be driving or in physical control of a motor vehicle.

[213th]

That's kind of wierd.
Going off that theory, you could get a DWI riding a horse....or a bike....


In MN you have to be driving or in physical control of a motor vehicle.

I am not familiar with the state statutes other then a brief overview we had for the DATAMASTER course, so I looked up online and found this on www.state.ak.us

AS 28.35.030. Operating a Vehicle, Aircraft or Watercraft While Under the Influence of An Alcoholic Beverage, Inhalant, or Controlled Substance.


(a) A person commits the crime of driving while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, inhalant, or controlled substance if the person operates or drives a motor vehicle or operates an aircraft or a watercraft

(1) while under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, intoxicating liquor, inhalant, or any controlled substance, singly or in combination; or

(2) and if, as determined by a chemical test taken within four hours after the alleged operating or driving, there is 0.08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood or 80 milligrams or more of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, or if there is 0.08 grams or more of alcohol per 210 liters of the person's breath.AS 28.35.030

(Note: Some municipalities and cities prosecute similar charges under local ordinances. Although municipal penalties are generally very similar to state penalties, this publication does not discuss municipal penalties.)
DUI and Refusal charges may be either misdemeanors or felonies, depending on the defendant’s prior record. For a defendant with no prior convictions, first and second offenses are misdemeanors, charged by complaint and tried before a six-person jury in district court. For a defendant with two or more prior convictions for DUI, Refusal or DUI-CMV (in any combination, within ten years and since 1996) a third DUI or Refusal is a felony, charged by grand jury indictment and tried in superior court by a jury of twelve. (DUI-CMV may only be charged as a misdemeanor.)

http://www.state.ak.us/courts/forms/pub-11.pdf

According to this it must be a motor vehicle, so I guess the trooper was pulling my leg. But does that mean it would fly for snowmachines and fourwheelers?

[Doc_Holliday]

hijacking this thread just a bit, if on a dogsled, bike, or horse...if DUI didnt apply, surely public intox would, correct?

[TXCharlie]

Are we sure the kid wasn't drunk too? When I was 11 years old, I could drive MUCH better than that

[213th]

hijacking this thread just a bit, if on a dogsled, bike, or horse...if DUI didnt apply, surely public intox would, correct?

I couldn't find any state statutes on Public Intoxication or Drunk and Disorderly...next time I talk to my brother I'll ask him.

[213th]

Are we sure the kid wasn't drunk too? When I was 11 years old, I could drive MUCH better than that

Up here he probably was

[Terminator]

I couldn't find any state statutes on Public Intoxication or Drunk and Disorderly...next time I talk to my brother I'll ask him.

I doubt they do. A lot of states don't have public inxotication statues, including my state. It's often a misconception that all states have that law.

[213th]

I doubt they do. A lot of states don't have public inxotication statues, including my state. It's often a misconception that all states have that law.

Ahh okay...I didn't know that. I thought most places had that law. TNX

[Jackalope]

That's kind of wierd.
Going off that theory, you could get a DWI riding a horse....or a bike....

In MN you have to be driving or in physical control of a motor vehicle.

In Oregon, it's relatively common for people to get DUIs while riding bicycles. The law only says "vehicle," not "motor vehicle."

And based on the definition of vehicle, I believe a drunk person could get a DUI while riding a horse here.

[Tuff]

I saw a DPS officer arrest a young man for DUI because he was riding a four wheeler while under the influence, his mistake was he was not on private property and was driving down the ditch beside the road....

The kiddo that was driving in the above story needs more practice in reading comprehension!!!!! Heck at the age of 11 I was driving down very rural roads and shooting dove off of highline wires for dinner!!!LOL!!

[ex401mp]

We dont have public intoxication laws here either, but we do have disorderly intoxication laws here. We also have DUI charges for bicycle operators. You can be charged for a DUI here in Florida, even on private property because the statutes specically states "ANYWHERE" in the state. Usually only applies when the drunken rednecks wreck their trucks, cars and ATV's though. It's not like we go after them there.