Man Gets DWI on Steamroller

A Pflugerville man is arrested for driving home a piece of construction equipment, police say while intoxicated.
FOX 7 News first reported this in October, now Pflugerville Police are releasing the video.

A patrol officer spotted the road roller at four in the morning, driving down Immanuel Street.

"The vehicle was actually weaving. There were no flagmen, no lights on it. It was dark and it was a dangerous situation," Asst. Chief Jim McLean said.

The officer put on his lights, and pulled the driver the equipment over.

The driver-- 32 year old Ronald Howell-- told the officer he was walking from Players Night Club and Tuffs Tavern.

He took the Dynapac Vibrator Roller from a construction site at F.M. 1825, and started driving it home.

"The officer smelled alcohol on his person," McLean said.

Howell was given a series of sobriety tests, which police say he failed. He was arrested for DWI, driving with an invalid license and felony theft, for stealing the roller valued at $180,000.

"When the officer was talking to him, the only explanation he could get was that it was cold outside, he's driving it because it was cold, trying to get home.

During an officer's career, I would say that's a normal contact they would have," McLean said.

A judge ordered Howell deferred adjudication on the criminal charges.
 

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