Police: Drunken man crashes before job interview at taxi company

A Des Moines man was arrested Monday after he allegedly drove himself drunk to an interview with a taxi cab company, hitting parked cars in the lot.

Ryan William Dickson, 39, arrived for his interview with Trans Iowa, a taxicab and shuttle company on Army Post Road, at 9:25 a.m., but had a little trouble parking. That’s likely because he blew a .273 on a preliminary breath test, which is three-times the legal limit to drive, according to a police report.

A woman on her smoke break saw Dickson trying to maneuver into a parking space, but hit an adjacent car while he was backing up, the report states.

Dickson straightened out and pulled into the space, but he crashed into the car in front of him.

At first, Dickson told police he hadn’t been drinking, but admitted it later.

He said he’d stopped drinking around 2 that morning and went to the hospital for his alcohol consumption. The hospital released him at about 8 a.m., Dickson said, but he drank another fifth of vodka afterward, the report states.

When police asked him to complete a walk and turn test at the scene, Dickson began to fall and had to be caught by officers. He said he couldn’t complete the rest of the field sobriety test.

He was arrested for operating while intoxicated and booked into the Polk County Jail, but was released later that day.

Dickson could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.