A Florida father was arrested for alleged drunk driving with his two children in the car and told police he was taking the youngsters to Disney World.
James Tompkins, 46, was arrested last Friday night along Interstate 4 after police allegedly spotted him driving in the emergency lane.
Officers pulled Tompkins over and saw he had two boys in the car with him, aged five and eight. He reportedly told the officer they were his boys and he was taking them to the famed theme park.
“The deputy notices [Tompkins] appears to be drunker than Cooter Brown,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
According to a PSCO arrest report, the deputy who pulled Tompkins over observed that he appeared to have glassy, watery, and bloodshot eyes, noted that his speech was slurred, and saw him swaying when he exited his SUV.
The deputy also reported that he smelled alcohol on the man’s breath.
According to Judd, Tompkins allegedly told the deputy who pulled him over that he was driving on the shoulder to avoid congested traffic and claimed he’d just had one mixed drink with “a little bourbon.”
“I think that bourbon must have been mixed with, like, a half-gallon of vodka or something because he was really drunk,” Judd said.
Tompkins reportedly refused to take a breathalyzer test at the scene, Judd said. The father was arrested for driving under the influence — his third such offense — for driving under the influence with a blood alcohol content of .15 or higher with children under 18 in the car, for refusing to submit to a DUI test, and on two counts of negligent child abuse.
“He doesn’t get it,” Judd said. “He had two children in the car with him. That’s right, he doesn’t get it. It’s time for him to be convicted and go to jail.”
Tompkins has not been previously convicted on any DUI charges.
According to jail records, Tompkins paid his bond and was released on March 2. He is scheduled to return to court for his arraignment on April 1.
