Santa Claus lands on naughty list

POST FALLS — Even Santa Claus can have bad luck while unwinding from the busy holiday season.

Santa Claus — yes that's the name on his Washington driver's license and he even has the white beard and a tattoo of Rudolph — was arrested for DUI in Post Falls on Thursday night.

The 66-year-old Spokane man was eastbound in a westbound lane on Polston near Syringa and the police station at 10:11 p.m. in his sleigh, aka a 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser, when he drove by an officer on patrol, according to a police report.

"The man, later identified through his Washington driver’s license as Santa Claus, stated that he wasn't from around here and not familiar with our streets," the report stated.

Santas do make a lot of stops to be familiar with every city, but ...

"It should be noted, while speaking with Santa, I could smell a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath and his eyes were glassy and bloodshot," the report stated.

Santa told police he had "three or four" beers at the nearby Moon Dollars restaurant and could not recall the size or type of beer he consumed.

As a result of evaluations and observations by police, Santa was taken to the Kootenai County jail without incident and booked on a $2,000 bond, according to police.

And, much like most Santas, this one complied with requests, and provided a breath test to police.