Drink-driver gives up attempt to flee police, sculls beer, throws away keys before arrest

Adam Wallace threw his car keys into a bush and sculled a can of Tui after police caught him drunk and driving while disqualified.

Realising he had no escape repeat drink-driver Adam Daniel Wallace threw his car keys away and sculled a can of Tui before cooperating with police.

The 32-year-old had been drinking but ran out of booze so was doing a beer run about 5.15pm on September 9, 2022, when he was spotted by police driving erratically along a residential Whanganui street.

Knowing he was intoxicated and a disqualified driver which put him in danger of further convictions, Wallace’s primal fight or flight response was triggered.

“The defendant increased his speed when he saw the marked police vehicle,” the summary of facts stated.

However, Wallace abandoned his attempt to flee almost immediately and surrendered - parking his car in the driveway of a house in a cul-de-sac about 100 metres away.

“The defendant got out of the vehicle, throwing the keys over a fence into a large bush area, drinking a can of Tui beer.”

While police had identified Wallace as the driver, when asked for his ID he refused to cooperate and was arrested.

En route to the police station Wallace again had a change of heart and provided his details.

Wallace had a breath alcohol reading of 717 micrograms, almost three times the legal limit of 250mcg but he still denied being behind the wheel.

On Monday, Wallace appeared before Judge Jonathan Krebs in the Whanganui District Court for sentencing on charges of drink-driving - third or subsequent, driving while disqualified and refusing to give his details to police.

Judge Krebs noted Wallace had almost completed an 18-month disqualification from driving the night he was arrested.

Wallace had “big issues with alcohol” and although he was attending counselling, Judge Krebs described his cavalier attitude of having a beer before his sessions as “counterproductive”.

A belief he was not going to get caught suggested Wallace was a risk taker, he said.

The charges warranted a sentence of imprisonment Judge Krebs said but he stopped short of sending Wallace to jail as he was in a positive relationship and a pro-social family environment for the first time.

Instead, Wallace was sentenced to three months’ community detention, with a 7pm to 7am curfew, and 18 months’ intensive supervision with a condition he was to complete counselling for substance abuse.

Wallace was also disqualified from driving for a further 28 days so an alcohol interlock, a breathalyser wired into the car’s ignition which prevents it from being started if the driver has been drinking, could be installed.

The interlock would remain in his car for 12 months and Wallace would then have a zero alcohol licence for the next three years.

If the interlock was not installed Wallace would be indefinitely disqualified from driving.

Judge Krebs convicted and discharged Wallace for refusing to provide his ID to police.