Senior centre van driver arrested for investigation of DUI; passengers make him pull over

EVERETT, Wash. – A Washington state trooper says 11 senior citizens who boarded a van for an excursion to the Skagit Valley tulip fields became alarmed when their driver started driving over curbs and running stop signs.

They decided to do something about the problem. KOMO-TV reports (http://is.gd/wjlaz9) that Trooper Mark Francis says when the passengers noticed a motorcycle trooper just ahead of them finishing up another traffic stop Wednesday, one of them told their driver, “All right, you’re stopping here!”

Francis says the 45-year-old male driver pulled over, nearly hitting the motorcycle trooper. Four of the passengers piled out of the bus to complain about the driving. Francis says the volunteer driver for a senior centre was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence of prescription medication and 11 counts of reckless endangerment.

Another bus took the passengers back to the senior centre. Says Francis, “They were pretty happy (the driver) stopped; they were pretty ticked they didn’t get to go to the Tulip Festival.”

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Information from: KOMO-TV, http://www.komotv.com/