Iowa Man Arrested For Drunk Driving With Zebra And Parrot In Car

Sometimes, you just can’t make this stuff up:

DUBUQUE, Iowa – It sounds like the beginning of a joke. A man, a zebra, a parrot walk into a bar.

A Cascade man was arrested outside of a Dubuque bar on Sunday night with a pet zebra and a macaw parrot in the front seat of his truck.

Officers charged Jerald Reiter, 55, with OWI. Police reports say officers stopped him in the parking lot of the Dog House Lounge as he drove away in his truck. According to police, field sobriety tests showed Reiter had a blood alcohol level of .14. The legal limit in Iowa is .08.

If only he’d let the zebra drive.

Found via Memeorandum

FILED UNDER: Crime, Law and the Courts, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. al-Ameda says:

    DUBUQUE, Iowa

    Probably a friend of Republican Representative Steve King.

  2. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Only a .14 BAC? Amateur.

    I’m not sure this really should surprise anyone. Iowa is a shitkicker state. Hell, if I went to a place in Iowa called the “Dog House Lounge” I’d expect some of the patrons to have live animals in their pickup trucks. Seriously.

    Speaking of which:

    @al-Ameda: FYI, in 2008 Obama not only won Dubuque County he did so by a margin of 60-40. In 2004 Kerry won that county 57-43. Obviously most folks there were drunk back then too.

  3. Brett says:

    Who keeps a Zebra as a pet? I’ve read that they tend to be ill-tempered and nasty biters.

  4. Brett,

    Who keeps a Zebra as a pet?

    People who have a 0.14 BAC before even walking into a bar?

  5. Tsar Nicholas,

    As the full story at the link tells us, this arrest happened before the accused had even been able to order a drink at the bar he was arrested outside of. So, you know, I’m sure he was just getting warmed up

  6. mantis says:

    A Cascade man was arrested outside of a Dubuque bar on Sunday night with a pet zebra and a macaw parrot in the front seat of his truck.

    How the hell could he have a zebra in the front seat, let alone a zebra and a parrot?

  7. Moosebreath says:

    “Iowa Man Arrested For Drunk Driving With Zebra And Parrot In Car”

    Boy, that criminal code is precise. How much more severe are the penalties for that than if he was driving alone?

  8. @mantis:

    Based on the photo in the article, it appears to be some sort of miniature zebra.

  9. Vast Variety says:

    It wasn’t me. I don’t even own a parrot.

  10. mantis says:

    @Stormy Dragon:

    Based on the photo in the article, it appears to be some sort of miniature zebra.

    Ah, I see. Still seems pretty nuts. I just today had to transport my two parrots, and that was trouble enough.

  11. al-Ameda says:

    A man with a pet zebra and a macaw parrot, I mean, where else could this happen?

    parking lot of the Dog House Lounge

    Mind you … it was SUNDAY night too.

  12. Franklin says:

    I’d actually like to hear the parrot’s side of the story.

  13. OzarkHillbilly says:

    @Tsar Nicholas:

    Obviously most folks there were drunk back then too.

    Nooo, they were recovering Republicans.

    And for the record…. Macaws are most definitely not parrots, yes they belong to the Parrot family, but they are to parrots as eagles are to sparrow hawks.

  14. matt says:

    @OzarkHillbilly: but they are sooo cute and fun… when handled properly.

  15. mantis says:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Macaws are most definitely not parrots, yes they belong to the Parrot family, but they are to parrots as eagles are to sparrow hawks.

    This doesn’t make any sense. What do you mean when you say “parrots,” then?

    Macaws are parrots because they belong to a parrot family, specificaly Psittacidae, and the true parrot superfamily Psittacoidea.

    In the family there is a lot of diversity, and a Blue and Yellow Macaw is certainly different from a Meyer’s Parrot, but they still both parrots. A Blue and Yellow is also quite different from a Red-bellied Macaw and other closely-related parrots in the Arini tribe.

    Saying macaws aren’t parrots is like saying a Corvettes aren’t cars.

  16. Drew says:

    Listen, man. I loved that zebra…..