By Lisa Gutierrez
The Kansas City Star
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Kan. — When a Franklin County, Kansas, sheriff’s deputy pulled over a driver for possible drunken driving on Friday, he had no idea what was on tap.
Now, there is absolutely nothing funny, ever, about drunken driving. However …
The driver was dressed like a can of Bud Light.
“A career in law enforcement is exciting, and you get to experience something new every day. Sometimes you see things you can’t believe!” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook, where it shared the weird tale because it was so, well, weird.
“Deputies were surprised to see that the driver was wearing a beer can costume. Yes, you read that correctly.”
The driver was headed northbound on Interstate 35 in this county just southwest of the Kansas City metro.
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office posted a dashcam photo of the traffic stop. It shows the deputy and the driver, dressed like a bright blue can of Bud Light, standing on the side of the road.
The can of beer, uh, the driver has his arms outstretched. The department obscured his face.
“Obviously it was significant enough that we thought it needed to be posted out on social media,” Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Richards told The Star on Monday.
“We see strange things in our line of work, but that’s toward the top for sure.”
Of all the beer can and beer bottle costumes out there, it had to be Bud Light, a brand that’s been in the news lately after a marketing debacle that spilled over to the NFL Draft in Kansas City last month.
And of course, the jokes poured forth on the department’s Facebook post.
They obviously had been bottled up.
“Is it really under the influence if he IS the influencer?”
“Is that considered an open container?”
“Only if his fly is down.”
People wondered whether the driver had been at a Cinco de Mayo party, but Richards said that didn’t seem to be the case.
The Facebook post said the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and taken to the county’s jail. It reminded the public that “as always, suspects are innocent until proven guilty.”
Richards said the driver was no longer in custody on Monday.
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