FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Police arrested an Alaska man who they say was driving a motorized shopping cart while drunk and in possession of stolen cookies and cake mix.
Merrill K. Moses, 63, was arraigned this week in Fairbanks on charges of drunken driving, shoplifting and refusing to take an official sobriety test. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 5, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Saturday.
A grocery store employee called police Wednesday night after seeing Moses drive into parking lot traffic. The employee was worried that Moses would collide with a car.
"When an officer arrived, a store employee was holding onto the handlebars of the cart to keep the suspect from driving any further," said Sgt. Bruce Barnette at the Fairbanks Police Department.
Another employee told police that drinking while driving a motorized shopping cart has been a regular problem for Moses. He has previously tried to run over employees who attempted to stop him, police were told. And every time they confront him, Moses is drunk.
Barnette said Moses does not appear to be disabled, but he could not stand without assistance Wednesday night. A preliminary test measured his breath-alcohol content at 0.31, almost four times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He later refused to provide an official breath sample at police headquarters.
Moses was charged with shoplifting because his cart allegedly contained items he had not paid for -- chocolate chip cookies and Betty Crocker cake mix.
Moses has a long criminal history, the News-Miner reported, including a 2011 DUI conviction in Delta Junction. He also has convictions for domestic assault, drinking in public, open container, criminal trespass and theft.
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