A 34-year-old Barnhart man was arrested for alleged driving while intoxicated and endangering the welfare of children after he was found passed out in the driver’s seat of a running pickup near the Flamm City boat access in Arnold, police reported.
Arnold Police were called at about 12:05 p.m. July 11 to the boat access off Telegraph Road after a 51-year-old St. Louis man saw the driver of a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 passed out. The man told police there were two children in the pickup, who were crying, the report said.
The St. Louis man told police when he approached the driver, he saw that the pickup was in drive with the engine running and the driver’s foot was on the brake. The man said he reached into the pickup, put it in park and turned off the engine, according to the report.
The driver woke up at this point, and the man asked if he was OK. The driver said he was OK and allegedly told the man he had been drinking, the report said.
When officers arrived, they believed the driver was intoxicated, but he refused to take any field sobriety tests. When they searched his pickup, the officers allegedly found two empty 99-proof alcohol containers, an empty 12-ounce can of Twisted Tea and two 1-ounce bottles of liquor, the report said.
The driver was arrested and taken to the Police Station. He was released with a summons to appear in Arnold Municipal Court for charges of DWI and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Detective Lt. Jason Valentine said.
The children’s mother was called to the boat access area, and she drove the children home in the pickup. The children were not hurt, Arnold Police reported.