Zamboni Operator Arrested for Drunk Driving

Fear not, for the streets are safe again. Or the ice rink, at least. Police arrested the driver of an ice resurfacer at a rink in Apple Valley, Minnesota after people reported that he drove erratically:

Dornstreich, who coaches the Eastview Hockey Association's PeeWee C team, said he'd noticed that the rink attendant's eyes were red and that he smelled like the energy drink Red Bull before his team took the ice.

"He looked like I do when I have my allergy attacks," Dornstreich said. "I didn't really think anything of it. He didn't slur his words. He was very alert, got me the keys, we set up the music system and I was on my way."

Before the PeeWee C players, ages 11 to 13, took the ice, Dornstreich said he noticed that the rink attendant was "making stripes on the ice." But the driver went back and corrected all his mistakes. After the game it was a different story, though.

While Dornstreich was working with a referee, a parent ran over to say that the rink attendant was "weaving all over, slurring his words."

But he wasn't on a public road. Can he be prosecuted for drunk driving? Under Minnesota law, yes:

People have been arrested in Minnesota for driving under the influence on everything from a souped-up motorized recliner to a farm tractor. State law says a DWI can result from driving any kind of a motorized vehicle, pretty much anywhere -- a forklift driver at work, a Bobcat driver plowing city sidewalks, a riding lawn mower in a yard.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals did, however, say in 2011 that a physically disabled man driving a motorized scooter could not be convicted of drunken driving. The law makes an exception for "an electric personal assistive mobility device" and the court said the scooter was a wheelchair, not a motor vehicle.