Darwin says, "This is a great Science Question!"

People do all kinds of things to hide their state of inebriation when they've been caught driving. They'll eat a bunch of mints, a cigarette, gargle with after-shave etc. The individual in this news story did what I would consider to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. While he was at the jail waiting to be booked he reached over, grabbed a bottle of "Wite-Out" correction fluid on the officers desk and drank it in order to hide the alcohol on his breath. The officer came back, saw the white marks on his hands (he wiped his mouth on his shirt & hands) and confronted him about it. Whatever story he came up with didn't fly though as the security camera caught the whole episode.

The active ingredient in correction fluid is an organic solvent, usually trichloroethylene. Teenagers have died from "huffing" this stuff much less drinking it. Our hero however survived his encounter with it so I guess the best we can go for here is an "Honorable Mention."

Oh, and the result of his attempted cover-up? The blood test from the lab came back positive for alcohol, 3.5 times the .08 legal limit.

http://www.ketv.com/news/16979697/detail.html

Attorney: Driver Drinks Wite-Out To Cover Alcohol On Breath Douglas County Attorney Says Some Take Desperate Measures

OMAHA, Neb. -- A man convicted of drunken driving this week tried to use Wite-Out to cover up his crime, prosecutors said.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said surveillance video from the night Juan Briceno, 33, was booked into jail shows Briceno drinking from a bottle of correction fluid to cover the alcohol on his breath. The tape shows Briceno wiping his mouth on his hand and shirt after taking a drink.

Kleine said he's not surprised at what some people will do once they are arrested.

"There was an article recently about a guy who tried to eat his underwear while awaiting a Breathalyzer test," Kleine said. "He thought it would somehow mask the test result. Criminals do some strange things, and this is an example of one of those circumstances."

Police officers spotted the Wite-Out on Briceno's hand and confronted him about it. He was taken for a blood test and tested at 3.5 times the legal limit of 0.08, prosecutors said.

Briceno is awaiting sentencing.

Submitted on 07/30/2008

Submitted by: David
Reference: http://www.ketv.com/news/16979697/detail.html

Copyright © 2008 DarwinAwards.com

Candi said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Man, you'd think after the Mythbusters ep where they showed it's IM-poss-ible to hide you've been drinking, people would quit trying. And considering that his Blood Alcohol Level probably wound up being determined by a blood sample from the ER, it was probably higher than than when he drank the whiteout! Thanks, David. This one's unusual and a keeper!

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Honorable Mention
Hey, look, a liquid! Maybe it'll mask the fact that I'm drunk off my *ss! Thanks, David!