Drunk Man Makes 9-Year-Old Drive Him To The Store To Buy Some Barbecue Sauce

A man from Tiffin, Ohio, got himself in a heap of trouble after drinking himself into a stupor and going to buy some barbecue sauce. Twenty-seven-year old Corey Mathias was at least smart enough to know he shouldn’t get behind the wheel while drunk, but he decided the best solution was to have a 9-year-old child drive him to get the barbecue sauce.

According to the Huffington Post, the 9-year-old boy, who was a neighbor to Corey Mathias, seemingly agreed to help him buy some barbecue sauce, but the trip wasn’t successful. The child did manage to drive the drunk man to a gas station, where Corey Mathias purchased the barbecue sauce. But the clerks at the gas station refused to let the 9-year-old get back behind the wheel of the vehicle, so Mathias had to drive drunk anyway.

The important thing is the 9-year-old made it out of the barbecue sauce trip completely unharmed. And evidently the kid wasn’t a bad driver, because the vehicle they rode in made it out without a scratch as well. It might not have lasted long on the road if police officers hadn’t noticed Corey Mathias’ erratic driving on the way back from the barbecue sauce run. Police pulled him over and found his blood alcohol limit to be .30, which is several times the legal limit.

In addition to the drunk driving charge, Corey Mathias is now facing two counts of child endangerment, refusing a chemical breath test, wrongful entrustment of a motor vehicle, obstructing official business, and driving with a suspended license. After Mathias refused the breathalyzer test, police officers had to obtain a warrant to test his blood alcohol content.

But the story gets even stranger when you learn that the whole barbecue sauce excursion started after the grown man invited the 9-year-old child over to his house for dinner. The boy’s parents were unaware that Corey Mathias was drunk and seemingly allowed the child to go over to eat some chicken.

“His parents didn’t know [Corey Mathias] was drunk,” a spokesman for the police department told the Advertiser-Tribune.

At some point before the meal, Mathias realized they would need some barbecue sauce, but he elected his 9-year-old house guest to drive him because he knew he was extremely drunk.

To watch the Buzz60 report on Corey Mathias and his drunken quest for barbecue sauce, watch the video below.

Mathias had his license suspended last year by a Huron County Judge due to his “continued drinking.” According to the New York Daily News, the man was caught by police in a situation nearly as incriminating as the barbecue sauce trip after he was spotted by Willard officers passed out on a lawn, barely clothed, in September of 2013.

“Next to him were two unopened beer bottles. Officers felt he was a danger to himself and others. He was arrested for disorderly conduct,” said Prosecutor Russell Leffler.

Corey Mathias also had cocaine on him at the time of his first arrest.

“It’s obvious he has a very serious substance abuse problem,” said Huron County Assistant Prosecutor Richard Woodruff.

What do you think is more dangerous? Driving drunk, or doing what Corey Mathias did and recruiting a child to get barbecue sauce for you?

Another strange story about drunkenness came out of Fort Lauderdale today after a police officer was unable to accept an award from MADD for his outstanding DUI arrests because he got too intoxicated before the awards ceremony. Read more about that here.

[Corey Mathias mugshot courtesy of the Tiffin Police Department]