It may sound funny to most, but a Florida drunk driver may have saved many lives, including his own, by calling 911 on himself.
Writers for the New York Daily News report that Michael Lester dialed emergency officials on New Year’s Eve to report that he had been driving under the influence. Lester reportedly told an operator that he was “too drunk” to even note his location, but correctly assumed that he had been traveling through Winter Haven, a city in Polk County, when he made the call to be picked up.
“[I’ve been] driving around, trying to get pulled over, actually,” the inebriated Lester said during the call.
When asked by the operator to pull his car over to the side of the road, Lester mentioned that he had parked in the middle of it.
“I think I’m going to get something to eat,” he says at one point during the call. “They can catch up with me.”
Luckily, cops were able to do just that before Lester could cause any problems on the road.
When obtained by police, the drunken motorist admitted to swallowing methamphetamine and drinking beer. He had also apparently not slept in a number of days.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Department shared the phone call to their official Facebook page on Friday. It can be heard in full below.
https://www.facebook.com/polkcountysheriff/videos/10155280066601818/
“Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a serious crime,” they wrote in the post. “Innocent people are too often injured or killed from impaired drivers. However, in this particular incident, nobody was hurt, so we couldn’t help but LOTO (that means we laughed our tasers off).”
Lester had been jailed previously for DUI, as well as disorderly conduct, aggravated battery, drug possession, hit and run, and resisting arrest charges. He was once again jailed for DUI after calling into 911.
Interestingly, the sheriff’s office also noted that Lester was the 30th DUI arrest made that month.
“Special thanks to Michael Lester, for throwing himself under the bus for #30 (we love round numbers),” the officers wrote on Facebook. “At least Michael wasn’t involved in a crash, and lived to see another day (and maybe he’ll see this Facebook post too. Hi, Michael!).”
No word on when and if Lester was released from custody.
