Man with zebra & parrot in front seat charged with DUI

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/05/man-with-zebra-parrot-in-front-seat-charged-with-dui/

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Police in Dubuque, Iowa, responded to an unusual call this week: reports of a zebra and a parrot in the front seat of a truck parked outside a bar. The striped animal and his fine feathered friend were there to keep their owner company, but weren’t allowed in the bar.

Jerald Reiter, 55, told police the zebra and maccaw parrot enjoy going for rides in his truck, so he brought them to the bar, which he says usually allows animals inside, ABC affiliate KCRG-TV reports."

"When officers arrived on the scene, they stopped Reiter in the parking as he was driving his truck away. Field sobriety tests found he had a blood alcohol level of .14, nearly twice the legal limit, according to police.

His girlfriend, Vickie Teters, told KCRB the animals are like their children, and do everything with them.

“They love going for rides. They’re just a part of the family,” Teters said. “They were not left alone in the car, not even a second.”

Reiter also disputes the drunk driving charge, saying he realized he was too drunk to drive, and was about to let a passenger take the wheel when he was arrested."

Dear readers: the defense that you were too drunk to drive and just about to let a passenger drive, is probably one of the worst defenses to DWI I have ever heard. Although I have seen people represent themselves on DWI charges and put on defenses that are just about as bad. Although I can think of a couple scenarios where it might work, such as if you were in your driveway still, not actually driving, or if it was an emergency, those cases are very rare.