Failing Officer's Geography and Math Quiz Leads to Teen's Citation for Drinking

A Fox Point teen with an established record was cited last week for underage drinking after lying to police and demonstrating a poor grasp of local geography.

A Fox Point police officer was driving in the 8200 block of North Santa Monica Boulevard when he noticed a teenage boy wearing dark clothing and a dark backpack standing at the intersection of Spooner Road and North Santa Monica Boulevard at 2 a.m. Oct. 14. 

According to the police report, the officer asked the boy what he was doing out so late and he said he was walking home from a friend’s house after doing homework. The officer could smell alcohol on the boy’s breath.

He told police he didn’t have any identification on him, but verbally identified himself and said he was 19 years old, the police report said. He then told officers they had no legal right to stop him so he was going to keep walking home.

The officer asked where his home was and the boy gave an address in the 8300 block of North Santa Monica Boulevard, but then he started walking in the wrong direction, the report said. 

The officer checked the boy’s record and discovered he had previous citations or arrests for underage drinking and burglary, and that he was only 17, not 19. The boy's stepmother pulled up to the scene and said someone had called her to say the boy was there with police. The officer told her the boy had been drinking and he was going to administer a preliminary breath test.

However, the boy refused to participate in the test, according to the report. He was asked where he was coming from and he said Mall Road and pointed, but once again, he pointed in the wrong direction. 

Due to the boy’s record and owing to several recent burglaries in the village, the officer searched his backpack, finding only school books.

The report said the boy was confused and very uncooperative. He was released to his stepmother and police said they would mail him a citation for underage drinking.