Adrian Peterson was allegedly found asleep at the wheel of his Mercedes SUV, parked at a gas pump in Sugar Land, Texas, the morning he was arrested for drunk driving and a weapons violation, according to court documents obtained by Vikings On SI.
The police report says Peterson, who starred for the Vikings at running back from 2007 to 2017, was found asleep in his vehicle just before 9 a.m. on October 26 at the Shell Gas Station located at 8250 Highway 90A. Police were alerted to the situation by a former Houston police officer who called the authorities, noting that he was a former member of Houston PD’s DWI task force.
“Upon arrival, I observed the black Mercedes SUV next to a gas pump. The vehicle’s engine was running and the head and tail lights were on,” the officer who filed the police report wrote, saying they observed Peterson “asleep behind the wheel.”
The investigation later determined, through surveillance video, that Peterson pulled up to the gas pump at 7:42 a.m. and never exited his vehicle until the officer responded to the call and tapped on the window to wake him up.
The report claims that the officer detected the smell of alcohol on Peterson and observed “blood shot glossy eyes and a slurred speech.”
Peterson allegedly told the officer that he was returning to his home in Missouri City, Texas, from a poker game in Houston. Sugar Land is located about 20 miles from Houston, while Missouri City is approximately a 10-mile drive from Sugar Land.
When asked how sober he was on a scale of zero to 10, with 10 representing blackout drunk, Peterson allegedly said he was at a two. The officer then had Peterson run through a series of field sobriety tests in the gas station parking lot.
“Based upon Mr. Peterson’s signs of intoxication and the clues I obtained from the test, I determined Mr. Peterson had lost his normal use of his mental or physical faculties by the reason of the introduction of alcohol,” the report states.
After being handcuffed, police found a Glock 41 pistol and 13 .45-caliber bullets in the gun’s magazine. The gun was found in the passenger side glove box of Peterson’s vehicle.
Peterson was cuffed at approximately 9:23 a.m. He allegedly refused to provide a breath or blood sample once in custody, so a warrant for a blood draw was requested and eventually approved around 11:30 a.m. Peterson was then taken to a local hospital for the blood draw, which was completed just before 12:30 p.m.
The results of the blood draw haven’t been released, but Peterson has been charged with DWI and for unlawfully carrying a weapon.
It was the second DWI arrest of the year for Peterson. He was previously arrested and charged with fourth-degree DWI in Minnesota in April, early in the morning after the first night of the NFL draft. He had attended the Vikings’ draft party at U.S. Bank Stadium and appeared on stage during the event. An incident report alleged that Peterson was stopped by police in Richfield, MN at 3:20 a.m. while driving 83 miles per hour in a 55 MPH zone. He registered a BAC of 0.14, above the state’s 0.08 legal limit.