| Another dad takes kids to Hooters, drives drunk
Another dad takes kids to Hooters, drives drunk
By Michael Gisick (Contact)
Monday, March 12, 2007
For the second time in a month, a man who told police he'd been drinking at a Hooters restaurant was arrested for drunken driving with his children.
Xavier Lucero, 38, was pulled over Sunday after several drivers reported him swerving across traffic and running other cars off the road, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint.
Lucero, whose 4- and 2-year-old sons were in his minivan with him, smelled of alcohol and said he couldn't keep his balance because of his high blood pressure, police said.
Lucero "was unable to spell his youngest child's name and for the date of birth of the oldest he stated, `July or August something, sometime,' " the arresting officer wrote. Lucero gave his 2-year-old's date of birth as "28 or before Christmas."
After initially saying he hadn't been drinking, Lucero admitted to having two or three drinks at the Hooters on San Mateo Boulevard, where he said he'd been "drinking and eating with his children," the complaint states.
Police also found six empty 24-ounce cans of beer in the minivan still cold to the touch, as well as an empty miniature bottle of Jim Beam, according to the complaint.
Lucero was arrested and charged with aggravated drunken driving and two counts of child abuse without great bodily harm and was taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center. Police said his breath alcohol level was over 0.16, twice the legal limit.
His children, neither of whom were properly secured in a child seat, were turned over to their mother, according to the criminal complaint.
Last month, 37-year-old Michael Vigil was arrested after his son, 10, and a friend called 911 and told police they were in a car stopped in the middle of the road.
The boys told police they'd wanted to go to It'z family fun center, but Vigil instead took them to two Hooters, got drunk and then stopped at a convenience store for more beer, according to a criminal complaint. |