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Drunk Driver Calls 911 to Report Herself

By Kamika Dunlap on November 04, 2009 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

We've all been told to call 911 if drunk drivers are seen on the road. But calling the police to report yourself as the drunken driver seems a little strange.

Clark County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jim Backus agreed.

"Drunken drivers reporting themselves is rare," he said in an Associated Press article.

On October 24th, a 911 dispatcher in Neilsville, Wisconsin received a call from Mary Strey, 49. "I don't want to hurt anybody. I'm drunk," Strey said.

Strey had been "drinking all night long," she added.

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Strey followed the dispatcher's advice to pull over and turn on her flashers.

Authorities cited Strey for a misdemeanor drunken driving with a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit to drive.

She will make her first court appearance on December 10th.

The case come on the heels of the Supreme Court recently refusing to hear a Virginia case about drunk driving arrests based on telephone tips. As discussed in FindLaw's Blotter, by refusing to hear the case, the Supreme court let stand Virginia's ban on DUI stops when the officer has not witnessed erratic driving but has only received a tip that someone is driving drunk.

Needless to say, even in Virginia, if the person making the tip is the same one driving drunk, a DUI stop and arrest would be valid.

Though she's now become an internet celebrity, Mary Strey's call may have saved lives. Getting behind the wheel while blitzed was a terrible idea, but somewhere along the drive she had the good sense to put the brakes on her drive home.

They say friends don't let friend drive drunk! Strey was a good friend to herself.

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