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Alleged Drunk Driver Jumps Into Back Seat

Posted on: Tuesday, 13 September 2005, 00:00 CDT

CANBERRA, Australia - An allegedly drunk driver stunned pursuing police in northern Australia by jumping into the back seat with his three passengers, leaving his car to careen out of control on an Outback road, police said Monday.

Police charged the 24-year-old man with resisting arrest and driving under the influence of alcohol after he abandoned the wheel on Saturday, ignoring the police car's siren and signals to pull over, said Sgt. Wayne Jenkinson, a police officer in the Northern Territory town of Katherine.

One of the car's passengers suffered minor injuries when she panicked and jumped from the driverless car while it was still rolling 25 miles per hour, he said.

The runaway car then rapidly lost speed, allowing a policeman to get out of his vehicle, chase it down on foot and bring it to a halt by applying the brake.

The man, who had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.178 percent - more than three-times the legal limit of 0.05 - was also charged with driving in a dangerous manner, driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered vehicle, Jenkinson said.

Jenkinson said the driver's hazardous maneuver was aimed at avoiding arrest.

"His cunning plan, in his muddled state of mind, was he wouldn't be the driver," Jenkinson said.

He will appear in a Katherine Magistrates Court this week.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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