Zamboni Driver Arrested For DUI After Fans Notice Erratic Driving During High School Game

A Zamboni driver was arrested on DUI charges this weekend after fans noticed the man weaving about the ice between periods of a girls hockey game, prompting a call to police and a failed sobriety test.

Anderson was driving the Zamboni during a girls hockey game between Davies High School and Williston High School when spectators and school officials noticed that he was driving erratically, leading one of the school employees to call the police.

When officers showed up they arrested the Zamboni driver for DUI and booked him into the Cass County Jail.

“I’ve been here for 22 years … and we have not had an incident like this before,” said Jim Larson, director of finance and human resources for the Fargo Park District, which operates the arena.

Larson said the district will not stand for the incident, which he described as a bad decision made by an individual. But he did not say what further discipline Steven Anderson might face from the district.

“I don’t want to in any way dismiss how serious this is,” Larson said. “We’ll review the situation to determine how this happened and what we can do to make it even more fool proof.”

Fargo police said the Zamboni driver was arrested for DUI even though he wasn’t on a public street because North Dakota law says anyone operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol can be arrested.

This is actually not the first time that a Zamboni driver has been arrested for DUI. In 2012, a Minnesota driver aroused suspicion after taking 25 minutes to clean the ice, a job that normally took 10 minutes. Spectators called police, who caught up with the man shortly after he parked the Zamboni.

The driver failed a field sobriety test, and was taken to a police station and booked on DUI charges. Reports at the time noted that he had three previous convictions for DUI — though none of the others were on a Zamboni.

After Steven Anderson was arrested on suspicion of DUI for allegedlty drunken Zamboni driving, school officials called another Zamboni driver to fill in, but coaches on both teams agreed to play on the rough ice rather than wait.