MURRIETA, Calif, — A motorist in Southern California apparently gave too much information to an officer early on New Year’s Day, telling the startled patrolman that he was “the DUI” after being pulled over for swerving on a highway.
According to a video shared on Instagram by the Murrieta Police Department on Jan. 2, an officer pulled over the motorist at about 12:40 a.m. PT on Jan. 1.
Officer Bridgewaters of the Murrieta Police Department recorded the interaction on his body camera, KTLA reported. The officer told the suspect, whose face was blurred out in the video, that he was being stopped for possibly driving while intoxicated.
“I was just dropping off my friend, because I am the DUI tonight,” the man told the officer, according to body camera footage.
“You’re the DUI tonight?” the officer asked.
“Yes sir.”
“Do you mean to say the DD (designated driver),” the officer asked as a follow-up.
“Speechless,” the police department wrote in a caption that documented the exchange.
The man admitted to drinking some beer and champagne before driving, KTLA reported.
“After admitting to consuming alcohol, the driver underwent several standardized field sobriety tests,” the police department posted on Instagram. “Struggling to maintain balance and nearly falling multiple times, he was eventually arrested for DUI and taken to jail.”
The Murrieta Police Department noted that every day in the United States, approximately 37 people die as a result of crashes caused by drunk drivers -- one every 39 minutes.
“These fatalities were preventable,” the police department wrote on Instagram. “If you plan to celebrate, please do so responsibly!”
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