14 Year Old Allegedly Caught Driving Drunk Parents To Buy Booze
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Sacramento Police did not arrest parents who were drunk and had their 14-year-old son drive them to the liquor store. Now parents are reacting in shock to what a mother and father allegedly asked their 14-year-old son to do.
"I guess they really don't care I guess their booze is more important," said one woman we talked to.
Police say the parents were drunk and wanted alcohol, but not a DUI. They're accused of forcing their 14-year-old son to chauffer their beer run. That's when the teen, with his parents in the car, drove into a DUI and license checkpoint on Frankling Blvd. and Florin Rd. where he was stopped. The parents were not arrested, but were cited for allowing an unlicensed driver behind the wheel.
"I think that's endangering a child -- being with two drunks and him behind the wheel, not a licensed driver," said a driver we talked to.
To some, it seems like a slap on the wrist.
"The totality of the circumstances at the time are what the officers have to assess, right? Every situation has its own unique set of circumstances and the officers on scene and the supervisor decided that was the best course of action," said Sacramento Police Department Ofc. Laura Peck.
Police are standing by their decision saying officers did not think the child was in danger.
"If they had felt that then they certainly would have taken different enforcement action," said Ofc. Peck. "Just because the child wasn't drunk, that's still putting the child's life in danger."
The parents will likely pay a fine, which some think isn't harsh enough.
"They just get a slap on the hand? No that's bull crap," said one motorist.
Police did not allow the teen to drive off. They were told to pull over until a sober and licensed driver was able to come and drive the car away.
We spoke with members of MADD who say they didn't have a big problem with the police officers' actions.
