STRANGE BUT TRUE: Backyard Bodyman Admits to Driving Recliner Drunk
10/29/2009 8:52:39 AM
La-Z-Boys and beer go together like peanut butter and jelly, but take that bastion of the living room out on the open road and you’re asking for trouble. Just ask Dennis LeRoy Anderson a 62-year-old resident of Proctor, Minn., who pleaded guilty last week to driving his La-Z-Boy while intoxicated and crashing it into another vehicle.
The
Proctor Journal says that Anderson – who does auto body repairs out of his home – and his lawnmower engine-powered recliner were well-known fixtures on the streets of Proctor in the summer of 2008. However, things went awry after a night at the bar in August last year, when Anderson admitted he drank about nine beers, got behind the wheel of the black leather chair and struck a parked Dodge Intrepid. His blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was 1.29 percent, over three times the legal limit in Minnesota, the newspaper says.
Aside from the engine and steering mechanism, Anderson’s wheeled wonder also features headlights, cup holders, a stereo with antenna, blue pinstripes and National Hot Rod Association stickers. The La-Z-Boy has been impounded in a police garage for the past 13 months, the
Proctor Journal says.
“We never want to show favoritism,” Police Chief Walter Wobig told the newspaper. “We've confiscated luxury cars to junkers, four-wheel drives, pick-ups, snowmobiles and trailers. But we never expected anything like this.”
Wobig says people from around the country have contacted the police department expressing interest in owning the chair, which will be auctioned off soon.
Anderson, who has a previous drunk-driving conviction, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, but the jail time and half the fine have been stayed for two years with supervised probation, the newspaper says.
More information:
• A
photo of the chair from BBC News
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