Police: Drinking dad had girl, 9, drive him to store - VIDEO INCLUDED

Police: Drinking dad had girl, 9, drive him to store
Oralandar Brand-Williams/ The Detroit News
Brownstown Township, MI — A Downriver man who knew he was too drunk to drive bragged to gas station attendants that he had a designated driver — his 9-year-old daughter — who ferried him to the station and would drive him home.

Soon after, 39-year-old Shawn Weimer was arrested with his young daughter, booster seat beneath her, at the wheel of a red and white full-size panel van he uses for work.

Weimer of Brownstown Township is set to appear in 33rd District Court in Woodhaven today to face a hearing on child abuse charges.

In a surveillance video from the gas station at 2:46 a.m. Oct. 8, Weimer is seen and heard proudly telling a gas station clerk how his young daughter is his driver for the early morning run to the gas station because "I'm drunk."

"I got, I got a designated driver," he says on the tape. "Nine years old. Nine! Listen, we're leaving, and she's driving."

The young, dark-haired girl stands next to her father eating a candy apple and looking up at him as he goes on about her driving abilities.

Albert Abbas, a manager at the CITGO gas station on the corner of Telegraph and West roads, said he couldn't believe it when one of his employees came into his office to tell him that the girl was behind the wheel when the van took off from the station.

"Nobody could believe it," Abbas said Monday. "He woke (the girl) up to drive him to the gas station. He bought her a candy apple as a reward (for driving him)."

A couple of miles after leaving the gas station, with his daughter behind the wheel, police stopped Weimer's car on King Road near Dean Road, after receiving phone calls about an underage driver. Weimer was arrested after the girl told police that her father had been drinking whiskey all night.

The father, who told officers he was teaching his daughter to drive, refused a Breathalyzer test.

Brownstown Detective Lt. Robert Grant said the slight girl was surprised when stopped.

"What did you stop me for? I'm driving good," Grant quoted her as telling police.

"The child was under the impression that she's a good driver, and that it was OK," said Grant. "She is a sweet girl."

The girl told police that her father had allowed her to drive before.

Even the 911 caller who reported the activity detailed the little girl's driving skills. The caller followed the vehicle as it left the station to make sure police would be able to locate it.

"Just watched a van pull out of the CITGO gas station. A 7-year-old girl is driving it, and her dad is drunk, and he's in the passenger seat," the caller said. The dispatcher asks if the vehicle is staying on the road, and the caller replies, "She's driving pretty good. I'm telling you … I can't believe it."

The little girl was turned over to her maternal grandfather when police were not able to reach her mother in Lincoln Park. The parents are separated, and the child was with her father for the weekend.

The father, a plumber, was arraigned Oct. 10 in 33rd District Court. He has been charged with second- and fourth-degree child abuse. Police charged him with being a habitual offender in connection with previous offenses.

He is due back in court at 1:30 p.m. today for a preliminary exam. The habitual offender charge stems from convictions on four previous felonies, including receiving and concealing stolen property and unarmed robbery, Grant said.

Efforts to reach Weimer and his attorney were not successful. The girl's mother refused comment on the incident, saying, "I have nothing to say about that."

Grant said the matter also has been referred to Wayne County child protective services.

In June, a 7-year-old Huron County boy barefoot and clad only in pajamas drove a car for 20 miles, putting the pedal to the metal as high as 50 mph, before slowing down and stopping with the help of police.

The Bad Axe youngster said he was trying to get to his father's home in northern Michigan; police pulled him over some 15 miles from his destination.

Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said the child was initially charged with unlawfully driving away with a vehicle.

"It's not unusual to see children driving on farmland property, but it is very uncommon to see a young boy barely able to reach the gas pedal driving a vehicle," Hanson said.

Since the incident, authorities have initiated an abuse and neglect petition against the boy's mother. "We had a feeling something else was going on," said Dawn Schumacher, chief assistant prosecutor for Huron County.

A pre-trial hearing in the case of the mother, whose name was not released by authorities, is scheduled today in the case.

Schumacher said the petition against the mother involves an investigation into the mother allowing a convicted sex offender, identified as Francis Barevich, to associate with and have contact with the little boy.

Authorities are investigating whether the mother's relationship with the man was the reason the child fled in her vehicle.

The youngster is now living in a northern Michigan town with his father, said Schumacher.