A 48-year-old man was arrested early Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 after a passerby spotted him unconscious behind the wheel of a vehicle stopped in the roadway on 88th Avenue South, according to the Kent Police Department.
Police said the 911 call came in around 2:17 a.m., reporting a car stopped after a sharp curve in the 22400 block of 88th Ave South (map below) with its engine running and the driver passed out. Officer Toledo-Blanco arrived to find the vehicle turned off but still blocking the roadway.
Additional officers positioned their patrol cars to prevent the driver from attempting to leave once awakened. According to police, it is common for intoxicated drivers to startle awake and try to flee, making the precaution necessary for safety.
Officers said they were unable to wake the man verbally and had to physically assist him out of the vehicle. He appeared severely intoxicated, did not know where he was and did not understand why officers were contacting him, police said. He was taken to the Kent Police Department, where Puget Sound Fire personnel conducted a medical evaluation.
The man later provided a breath sample of more than .19, more than twice Washington’s legal limit of .08 for operating a personal vehicle. According to Kent Police, a person of his reported size would typically need to consume seven or eight drinks in an hour to reach that level of intoxication.
He was booked into jail.
Kent Police emphasized the dangers of impaired driving as the holiday season continues.
“Some people won’t listen, will imbibe and drive anyway, and have what they believe to be the worst night of their life when we put them in jail. This is not the worst thing. Not by a long shot,” the department said in a statement.
“Thank you to the 911 caller. It’s likely you saved a life this past weekend,” police added.
