A police department in Illinois is experiencing some unexpected web traffic following the release of footage obtained during a noticeably not routine traffic stop. The Roselle Police Department, feeling generous in light of their just-launched Facebook page, decided to make an example out of the egregious transportation habits of a 54-year-old woman and her 2004 Lincoln.
Thanks to a call from a concerned fellow citizen, local authorities were alerted to a motorist appearing to drive as if a massive tree wasn’t lodged in the hood of the vehicle. Once authorities managed to pull over the driver, Maryann Christy, they were met with the smell of alcohol. After failing a field sobriety exam, Christy was hit with a DUI and is now set to appear in court next month. According to responding officers, the driver was aware of the hood ornament but wasn't sure where she acquired it.
"We didn’t stand there and measure it, but it was a big tree," Roman Tarchala, Roselle Deputy Chief, told the Chicago Tribune of the tree’s alleged massiveness on Monday. Exact measurements aside, those on the scene estimated the tree to be "about 15 feet tall." As for the virality of their back-to-back tree car posts, Tarchala expressed a sense of calm shock to the Tribune. "We were just trying to be proactive and put something on our new Facebook page."
Though the police report from this bizarre incident lacks the visual details that really make the story, it makes up for those shortcomings with simplicity. "Stopped for driving with a large tree embedded in the front grille," the report reads, as quoted by the Tribune. The lesson here, of course, is just as simple: Stop drinking and driving.
