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Cindy Lange-Kubick: Called in on a DDP? No problem here

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Friday, Aug 31, 2007 - 12:15:46 am CDT

Seems Cody Schaaf got more than the four cheeseburgers he ordered when he pulled into the McDonald’s at 10th and Arapahoe last spring.

His extra value?

A free trip to detox.

Story Photo

The story of a 24-year-old Lincoln man who went to trial last week made national news.

His DUI arrest was based on observations of a Lincoln Police officer, who testified Schaaf showed up at the pick-up window at 3 a.m. with bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and the wafting odor of alcohol mingling with the scent of the deep fryer.

The officer delivered the man’s meal to his car personally.

Schaaf’s lawyer argued the officer could not have smelled alcohol on his client’s breath from his perch 7 feet away, thus having no reasonable suspicion to detain him.

A judge will rule on the case next month.

What’s the deal? McDonald’s as the newest LPD substation?

Fast-food joints are late-night hot spots for drivers too tipsy to be on the road, Police Chief Tom Casady says.

So far this year, the department has received 197 calls from restaurants between midnight and 2 a.m.

A lot of them alcohol-related.

And a lot of them originating at drive-throughs.

While Schaaf’s lawyer is challenging the stop, Casady called the bust an example of “pretty good outside-the-box thinking” by an imaginative beat cop.

Sheila Klein’s McCrime Stoppers story has a different ending.

Hers happened last spring, too.

The 38-year-old pulled into the 56th and Nebraska 2 McDonald’s for fries and a shake on her way to take two of her children for a late-afternoon appointment at their school.

She had her beverage of choice — a Diet Dr. Pepper — in the drink tray.

She paid for the order, grabbed the bag and pulled away.

They barely had time to get out of the parking lot before chaos ensued.

First, her daughter Sami accidentally dumped her fries. Mom pulled over and got out to help fish them off the floor.

Before she could get back in, Connor spilled vanilla shake all over his Game Boy.

She ran to the other side of the minivan.

“I wasn’t yelling or anything,” said Klein, a nurse at Lincoln Surgical Hospital. “I was just running around the van. It probably looked strange.”

Crisis contained, the family headed east on Old Cheney.

Before they made it to 70th Street, the cell phone rang. Turns out a McDonald’s employee wrote down her license plate number and phoned police.

Faster than you can dress a Big Mac with two all-beef patties, an officer had called her house, procured her cell phone number from her oldest son and was on the line.

Were you just at McDonald’s? The voice asked.

Yes.

We got a phone call from an employee there who thought maybe you had an open beer can in your car.

Klein explained her Diet Dr. Pepper habit and offered to meet police in the Lincoln Christian School parking lot.

Her explanation must have seemed satisfactory, because it was declined.

The white and red pop can does look “a little beerish,” Sheila said, four months later.

And her behavior in the minivan probably did “seem a little odd.”

When she asked her oldest son about giving the police her cell phone number, he said, “Mom, I figured if you’d done something wrong, you needed to be caught.”

She couldn’t disagree with the wisdom of her 15-year-old, Klein said this week.

She always meant to go back to the drive-through and thank the young man who turned her in.

And after hearing about Schaaf and his own McDonald’s encounter, she felt more grateful than ever someone was watching her in frantic mom-mode.

“If I’d been a drunk mother with kids in the car, absolutely someone should call me in,” she said.

Ditto with other impaired drivers.

LPD probably gets a dozen calls a day from people seeing “all sorts of things” that lead officers to intoxicated drivers and other law-breaking citizens, Casady said.

The officers in blue rely on it, he said.

Perhaps McDonald’s employees might think about substituting a new query for their old Super Size-me spiel.

How about: Would you like a blood-alcohol content test with that?

Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.


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connie wrote on August 31, 2007 6:50 am:
" OK, I can see this. Dangerous behavior should be reported, although I DO seriously doubt an officers ability to detect alcohol from inside the building though. I hope the judge rules against that. It's a clear abuse. Now then, I HAVE a 15 year old son. If a policeman called him and asked him for my cell-phone number, his answer would have been, "bahA hahahahaha..." What kind of a kid turns his MOTHER in to the police????? My sympathies to Mrs. Klein. "

 I would wrote on August 31, 2007 7:27 am:
" turn my mother, father wife or child to the police if they were driving impaired. I could not live with the guilt if they killed someone and I could have prevented them from doing that by turning them in. And I expect the same from them. "

 Good Old McDonalds wrote on August 31, 2007 8:09 am:
" The stats in this article are very true. I use to be a late night manager for the McDonalds at 10th and Arapaho St. Thursday-Saturday between 11pm and 3am were the worst times because we got hit hard by the bar rushes and people leaving the “after hours.” A lot of the people that came thru the drive thru during those times were too intoxicated to be driving. Some were so intoxicated that they would pass out while waiting for the line to move. And yes I did have to call the LPD a lot because of problematic intoxicated people. Those were some fun yet crazy times. "

 jb wrote on August 31, 2007 9:09 am:
" Thats it, I'm boycotting all McDonalds until they quit this practice. "

 Big Chief wrote on August 31, 2007 9:12 am:
" I think we all have days like Mrs. Klein's. I know I do and I haven't had a drop of booze for at least five years. "

 a mom wrote on August 31, 2007 9:50 am:
" My kid would give the police my cell number because they respect authority. Mrs. Klein is doing something right. Yay for her! "

 Constitution wrote on August 31, 2007 10:11 am:
" You'll notice here that McDonalds is waiting until AFTER they place their order and pay. Now, if the officers were watching people when they pulled into the drive through, and busted them then, McDonald's would be howling about the cops busting people and running off business. Funny how that works. And trust me, cops make up more probable cause than you can imagine. I see it in court all the time. "

 Michelle wrote on August 31, 2007 7:24 pm:
" The story was well written and made an excellent point: When we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, we won't care if someone questions what we're doing! Kudos to the Klein family for having a great attitude. I hope the McDonald's cashier got a raise! "

 McSober wrote on August 31, 2007 9:43 pm:
" I hafta say that I am hangen tough with JB and Constitution. This does not feel right. I believe the kinda people that work late night drive through may be motivated to create there own excitement. If all Old Ronald wants to do is protect victims then he should pack in his late night, fat fest. The founding fathers of this country dumped tea in Boston Harbor because of taxes. What would they think of our present day? There little search and seizure rant is gone to the wind. Is there a time to “turn someone in”? Of course. Is that time when someone just maneuvered through a one lane obstacle course and dealt with the late night speaker and “is your order correct” board? Dealing with that McDonalds at that time of night is a field sobriety test in it’s self. I could think of some places that would result in higher arrest ratios. The city/county has the addresses already. It is at the place they issue liquor licenses. You see, people drink there. How did they get there? Most drove. Do all of them crave Big Macs? I doubt it. JB I will meet you at the local Mexican late night drive through. "

 eyes on you wrote on August 31, 2007 11:59 pm:
" welcome to 1984 "

 Ane wrote on September 1, 2007 12:48 pm:
" Seems to me like Mrs. Klein is raising children with integrity! I admire your son. Keep up the good work you are doing with your kids! "

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