Dad arrested for DUI after reportedly passing out in Mesa school pickup line

MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - A man has been arrested on DUI charges after reportedly passing out behind the wheel while in a Mesa elementary school pickup line.

Shortly after 3 p.m. on Monday, someone called Mesa police to report a parent was unconscious in a car in front of Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School. Police say that when officers arrived, they saw a man, later identified as 35-year-old Alejandro Lopez, trying to crawl into the passenger’s seat. Witnesses told officers that he had been in the driver’s seat before they arrived.

In the car were two young children in car seats, who Lopez had been waiting to pick up before passing out, according to court documents. Officers also noticed an open container of Twisted Tea in the driver’s side cup holder. Documents say officers could smell alcohol on his breath and that at first, Lopez said he had not been driving. He then allegedly admitted to taking a shot of Fireball Whisky and drinking Twisted Tea before driving to the school to pick up his kids.

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In addition to his breath, court papers say that officers noticed he had bloodshot, watery eyes. Lopez’s preliminary breath test revealed that he had a blood alcohol content level of .218.

He was arrested and now faces various charges including two counts of aggravated DUI with a passenger under the age of 15, one count of extreme DUI, and one count of DUI with BAC of .08 or more.