A Massachusetts man who says he pulled over to sleep off the affects of alcohol is now charged with driving drunk after officers found him in the parking lot of a New Hampshire police station.
Scott Kulda, 30, of Burlington, was arrested early Sunday morning after a dispatcher noticed he was in the parking lot of the Plaistow police station.
Kulda told NBC Boston he had been drinking and realized he needed to get off the road. He said the only place in sight at the time was the station so he pulled in and put his red Jeep Grand Cherokee in park.
"That's why I looked for a place to pull over because I was trying to avoid killing myself, somebody else or being charged with a DUI in the first place," Kulda said.
Plaistow say he made the right call to pull over, but he should have never been behind the wheel.
"I understand wanting to do the right thing, but the right thing should be don’t drive at all," Captain Brett Morgan said.
Plaistow Police said they had no choice but to make an arrest after finding Kulda in his car while the vehicle was still running.
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"If the key was not in the ignition, the vehicle would not be running and at that point he probably would not have been charged with DUI. He would have probably just been placed in protective custody," Captain Morgan said.
Instead, Kulda is facing the same charge he would have had officers found him driving drunk on a roadway, but he said at least this way, nothing worse happened.
Kulda will face a judge on the DUI charge in Plaistow on June 9.
