DWI ON A RECLINER? - MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO DRIVING SOUPED UP EASY CHAIR WHILE DRUNK

  • Published
  • By Tim Barela
  • Torch Magazine
DULUTH, Minn. --  A Minnesota auto body mechanic pleaded guilty Nov. 19 to driving his motorized recliner while drunk.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Heather Sweetland stayed 180 days of jail time and ordered two years of probation and a $2,000 fine for 62-year-old Dennis Anderson. In August 2008, Anderson crashed his converted easy chair into a parked Dodge Intrepid, according to a Proctor Police Department report. The police report said that Anderson admitted to drinking eight or nine beers before he left a bar in the northern Minnesota town of Proctor on his cushioned ride.

When he crashed into the car, prosecutors say Anderson's blood alcohol content was .29, more than three times the legal limit. He was not seriously injured, the police report said, with only an abrasion to his right elbow.

Police said the chair, which was powered by a converted lawnmower, is "decked out." Along with a race car steering wheel, gear shifter, headlights and a power antenna, it has such amenities as 
a stereo, cup holders and a National Hot Rod Association Sticker on the headrest.

Gas-powered, police estimated it could travel 15 to 20 mph.

According to the police report, an officer found Anderson at 
the crash site and noted that he had "very slurred speech" and 
a "strong odor" of alcohol. Anderson told the officer that the 
"shifter had broken," which caused him to lose control of his 
furniture. The officer checked Anderson's driver's license and 
discovered it had been revoked because of a previous drunken-driving conviction, the report said.

Police impounded the recliner after the crash. More than a 
year later, on Nov. 6, the infamous easy chair sold at auction for 
a whopping $10,099.