Man eats toilet paper in attempt to avoid OWI

IOWA CITY - A Conesville man tried to avoid a drunken-driving arrest by eating toilet paper, police said.

According to a University of Iowa Department of Public Safety criminal complaint, an officer stopped 39-year-old Ross A. McDonald for going the wrong way down Market Street around 3:07 a.m. Sunday. Police said McDonald was 'extremely confused” and was unaware he had driven the wrong way on a one-way. Police said McDonald was wearing a Halloween costume and had bar wrist bands on.

McDonald admitted to having two drinks and had slurred speech and other signs of intoxication. He also failed field sobriety tests, police said.

Police took McDonald to the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety's drunken driving processing room where he tried to eat toilet paper in an attempt to interfere with the breathalyzer. McDonald initially refused to take a breath test, but changed his mind after trying to eat the toilet paper, police said. The breath test showed a blood alcohol content of .165, or twice the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle in Iowa.

McDonald was arrested and charged with third-offense drunken driving, a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.