Med transport driver caught asleep in booze-filled van on Navajo Nation
Navajo Police officers lined up alcohol containers found inside a Medicare Trans vehicle after arresting a 32-year-old driver for DUI early Friday morning at a Chevron in Chinle, Arizona. (Navajo Police Department)
CHINLE, Ariz. - A medical transport driver was hauled off to jail early Friday morning after Navajo police caught him passed out drunk behind the wheel of a company van stocked with beer.
What we know:
The 32-year-old driver works for Medicare Trans, a Phoenix company with a heavy footprint across the Navajo Nation. Instead of helping patients, police say he was sleeping behind the wheel at a Chevron gas station in Chinle around 2:30 a.m. with open and unopened beer cans and liquor bottles scattered throughout the branded van.
When a Navajo police officer approached the parked vehicle to check on him, the driver woke up showing obvious signs of heavy drinking, cops said. The officer put him through sobriety tests right in the parking lot before slapping on the handcuffs. The driver was booked into the Navajo Department of Corrections facility in Chinle on charges of DUI and possession of liquor, while his Medicare Trans van was hitched up and towed away.
What they're saying:
FOX 10 reached out to Medicare Trans for comment regarding the arrest, but the company has not yet responded.
The late-night bust comes right at the start of Labor Day weekend, a time when police across Arizona and tribal lands aggressively ramp up patrols. Navajo police warned that officers will be out in full force all weekend long to yank impaired drivers off the road before someone gets hurt.
What we don't know:
Authorities did not identify the suspect, beyond saying he is a Navajo Nation member.
Map of where police found the passed-out professional:
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from the Navajo Police Department.