Motorist stops accused drunken driver, takes keys, holds him for police

PLEASANT GROVE — By the time police arrived, Alan Kirkham had already stopped the driver he suspected of being drunk, taken his keys and was guarding him on the curb.

Kirkham had watched the man weave all over the road in Provo, nearly hitting several cars, so he kept following him as he got on the freeway Wednesday morning, said Pleasant Grove Police Sgt. Ernesto Ferron.

Calling 911, Kirkham was told there were no Utah Highway Patrol troopers in the area, so he followed the allegedly intoxicated driver all the way to Pleasant Grove, where they both exited the freeway.

When the driver stopped at the light at Pleasant Grove Boulevard and 2000 West, Kirkham sprang into action. He ran to the man's passenger side door, opened it and turned the car off. Then he took the keys, Ferron said.

Kirkham didn't stop there. He went to the driver's side and pulled the man out, plunking him on the curb to wait for police, whom he had also called during the drive.

Officers praised Kirkham, of Mapleton, for his quick response to what could have been a dangerous situation.

"We have people follow (suspected drunken drivers), but (most) people don't want to get too involved," Ferron said. "But (Kirkham) thought, 'If I don't take action right now, somebody's going to get killed.' "

Police arrived minutes later and administered field sobriety tests, which the man failed.

"He was three times the legal limit," Ferron said of the inebriated driver. "He was really intoxicated. We're lucky he didn't cause an accident."

Officers took the man to the police station where he blew a .228 on a breath alcohol test, Ferron said.

The driver was apparently too incapacitated to fight off Kirkham as he pulled him out of the car.

"He was so intoxicated … he was actually falling over," Ferron said.

Police said it was a bit unusual that the incident happened around 7:30 a.m., not the usual time to be encountering impaired drivers.

Police booked Jeffery Lee, 29, of Glenwood, Sevier County, into the Utah County Jail for investigation of open container in a vehicle, DUI with priors and alcohol restriction.

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