Drunk man blames armadillo after crashing Chevy, Pierce County deputies say

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. – Why did the armadillo cross the road?

Trick question.

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies have determined it actually probably didn’t, contrary to a drunk driver’s excuse for crashing his Chevy in Midland on Sunday.

Deputies said when they responded to reports of a crash on Sunday evening at 106th St. E. and 25th Ave. E., they found a Silverado in the ditch and a driver who refused to come out.

When asked what he was doing in the ditch, the driver said he “was turning and had to swerve to avoid an armadillo,” and said he was going to put the truck in 4-wheel drive and back out.

The deputy and a firefighter who’d arrived on the scene told him that wasn’t going to work – the ditch was too steep – and reached in and took the man’s keys out of the ignition.

Rather than come out the passenger door, the man rolled down the driver’s side window and crawled out.

Deputies said the man reeked of alcohol and couldn’t walk or stand without help, so they “half carried” him to the patrol car and skipped the field sobriety test.

The 54-year-old man was sent to the hospital for a blood draw, then booked into Pierce County jail for driving under the influence with prior convictions; driving without an ignition interlock device; and third-degree drive with a suspended license.

The search for the armadillo is ongoing.