Man Finds Himself In Jail After Drinking A Beer While In Traffic Next To A Marked Patrol Car

There are many things you could do that will land you behind bars, but a Florida driver found himself in the fast lane to that jail cell when police say he sat in traffic sipping a nice, cold beer. Which is bad enough, but it just so happens, his car was next to a marked “Orlando Police Department.”

Shortly before noon on Saturday, police charged the man with driving with an open container, carrying a concealed firearm and armed possession of pot with intend to sell, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

“As I passed the vehicle… I observed the driver drink from a bottle that appeared to resemble that of an alcoholic beverage,” the arresting officer wrote in his report. “The bottle’s content appeared to be dark yellow in color, reasonably appearing to me to be the color of beer.”

And indeed, it was a bottle of Corona Extra, police said. The officer noted that the driver didn’t want to the police vehicle at first, lagging behind to avoid a traffic stop.

“I knew he was doing this because he reduced his speed to almost a complete stop in the roadway.”

That tactic didn’t work out so well, as eventually the alleged beer drinker had to pass the police car, at which point the officer pulled him over. The driver eventually handed over a small bag of pot and admitted that there was an open beer behind the seat. He was arrested, and later released after posting bail.

Idling next to a cop? Bad idea to be sipping a cold beer [Orlando Sentinel]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist