Indiana man guilty of driving drunk with kids strapped to car hood

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A man from Fort Wayne, Indiana has pleaded guilty to driving drunk while four children were strapped to the hood of his car.

The manager of Belmont Beverage called police when he noticed yellow tow straps securing the children to the hood of Aaron Stefanski’s white sedan. Court documents showed that a deputy U.S. marshal and the police responding to the scene found Stefanski’s 4- and 5-year-old sons, his 6-year-old daughter and other woman’s 7-year-old daughter on the car hood. They also noticed a strong smell of alcohol on the driver’s breath.

“I was only going to drive around the corner,” Stefanski said, according to The Journal Gazette. “I thought they would like it.”

A Breathalyzer test determined that Stefanski blood-alcohol content was 0.17 percent. Indiana state law sets the maximum legal blood-alcohol limit at 0.08 percent.

Stefanski on Monday pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and three counts of neglect of a dependent. All of the charges are Class D felonies and each carries a possible sentence of six months to three years in prison. Under the plea agreement, the judge cannot reduce the charges to misdemeanors.

Multiple other charges are expected to be dismissed when he is sentenced. They included four counts of criminal recklessness, four infractions for failing to restrain the children and one charge for driving without insurance.

Watch this video from WANE, originally broadcast May 7, 2012.

Two charged after strapping kids to hood of car: wane.com

Mother of kids strapped to car hood speaks: wane.com