Charges: Father Drove Around 2 Kids While Drunk

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – A 40-year-old St. Paul man is accused of driving his two children around St. Paul while he was intoxicated on Tuesday, according to charges filed Friday in Ramsey County Court.

Christian Damon Derek Stoner was charged with DWI and refusal to submit to a chemical test in connection with the incident.

According to a criminal complaint, a 5-year-old boy knocked on the door of a home on the 1900 block of Palace Avenue in St. Paul and told the homeowner that his father, later identified as Stoner, was in a car in the street and refusing to bring him and his sister home. A police officer responded to the scene and found Stoner sitting on the center console of his vehicle. The keys for the vehicle were in the ignition and the ignition was in the accessory position.

Stoner appeared to be drunk and he wasn't wearing any shoes. There was also an empty alcohol bottle in the car, the complaint states. He admitted to police that he had been driving the vehicle with his two children inside. The 5-year-old boy told police that Stoner picked him and his sister up at daycare and was driving around, pulling over at random places.

The boy said he was scared and told his father to bring them home as they were both crying and hungry, according to the complaint.

The officer helped Stoner out of his car and he nearly fell over onto the road. A preliminary breath test showed Stoner had a blood alcohol level of .289, more than three times the legal limit for driving.