Six kids found in car with drunk
THREE children were found unrestrained in the back seat of their father's car while he allegedly drove home drunk from a party.
Police arrested the 35-year-old at Diddillibah on Petrie Creek Rd after he was identified as possibly being an unlicensed driver.
Six children under the age of 16 were found in the car.
Two of them were allegedly lying unrestrained in the footwells of the back passenger seat and another was not wearing a seatbelt.
Sunshine Coast Traffic Sergeant David Nelson said police pursued the driver after he appeared as a person of interest who may have been driving unlicensed."
Police used the automatic number plate recognition camera on the vehicle when the driver was reported crossing double white lines to overtake another vehicle," Sgt Nelson said.
"Once police approached the vehicle it was found that three children were unrestrained and the man was found to be driving under the influence of alcohol."
Five of the six children in the car were believed to be the driver's children.
They included the three unrestrained children, who were aged six, eight and 10.
A 16-year-old, who was not believed to be the man's child, was seated in the front passenger seat.
Sgt Nelson said the man was driving home from a barbecue in Bli Bli towards his hinterland home at around 6pm on Sunday.
"We had to send out two extra police units to collect the children, which meant three of our cars were taken off the road for one reckless driver," Sgt Nelson said.
The driver was taken to Nambour police station for a breath analysis test.
He was allegedly found to have a mid-range blood alcohol content of more than 0.08 and less than 0.15.
A man was charged with driving under the influence, driving without a driver's licence and three counts of driving with unrestrained passengers.
He will appear before Maroochydore Magistrates Court next month.
The Sunshine Coast Police Traffic branch also charged six people for drink driving over the weekend.
One man was charged in Cooroy for driving with a blood alcohol content of .149 at 5pm on Sunday.
