Man Blames 10th Drunk Driving Charge On Beer-Battered Fish

You have to eat a lot of beer batter to have a .062 blood-alcohol level.

As excuses go, this one is pretty fishy.

A Wisconsin man convicted on Monday for his 10th Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated charge (OWI) blamed his high BAC on beer-battered fish, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Adams County Sheriff's Department

John Przybyla, 76, was arrested in October 2014, after a deputy noticed his truck cross the center line of a state highway.

The deputy said Przbyla’s breath smelled like alcohol and administered a field sobriety test that the suspect failed, according to local news station WISC.

Przybyla denied drinking alcohol, but said he had eaten beer-battered fish earlier in the evening. He made the same statements in court on Monday.

If true, there would have to be a lot of beer in that batter.

Police said Przybyla's blood-alcohol level was .062, according to the Associated Press.

That's below the state's normal legal limit of .08, but the legal limit for Wisconsin residents with three or more drunken driving convictions is only .02 percent.

As novel as the beer-battered fish defense may be, jurors did not fall for it hook, line or sinker.

Przybyla was found guilty of operating while intoxicated, 10th offense; operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration; and operating while revoked, according to WILX.com.

No sentencing date has been set, but Przybyla could face up to 12.5 years in prison.

Also on HuffPost:

Christian Greystock

Too Much To Drink?

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot