A Zamboni driver was arrested this weekend on DUI charges after fans at a girls hockey game noticed he was driving erratically between periods.
According to the Inquisitr, a school employee called police to report the Zamboni driver during Friday night’s game. Officers arrested Steven Anderson for DUI and booked him into the Cass County Jail.
Jim Larson, Director of Finance and Human Resources for the Fargo Park District, said the district would not stand for the incident. He described it as a bad decision made by a specific individual. He did not, however, elaborate on what other disciplinary actions the Zamboni driver might face.
“I’ve been here for 22 years and we have not had an incident like this before,” said Larson, whose department operates the arena. “I don’t want to in any way dismiss how serious this is. We’ll review the situation to determine how this happened and what we can do to make it even more fool proof.”
The Valley News Live reported that Clay Whittlesey, Fargo Park District Recreation Director, said luckily no one was on the ice at the time Anderson was driving.
“It was a very strange call and I was very surprised to receive it,” said Whittlesey. “Obviously, we have zero tolerance for situation like this. This just cannot happen. I’m extremely grateful that no one was hurt, because someone could have been seriously injured or possibly even killed in a situation like this.”
Police were able to arrest and charge Anderson with a DUI even though he was not on a public street because North Dakota law dictates that anyone operating a motor vehicle can be arrested if under the influence of alcohol.
After the 27-year-old Zamboni driver was arrested, Davies High School officials called another driver to fill in. Rather than waiting for the replacement, both coaches of the teams agreed to play on the rough ice.
