Snow plow driver arrested for drunken driving, eluding police

CEDAR RAPIDS - Police say a Cedar Rapids man was drunk as he drove erratically with a snow plow blade on the front of his vehicle.

Eric Collins, 39, of 2925 Johnson Ave. NW, Lot 14, was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of operating while intoxicated and several other charges, including careless driving, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and no driver's license.

Officers spotted Collins' sport-utility vehicle around 12:40 a.m. in the 2900 block of Johnson Avenue NW. According to the police report, the blade was down, and the driver was jumping curbs as he went in and out of parking lots.

When police tried to stop the SUV, the driver kept going and turned into the Hillside Mobile Home Court. Another man was a passenger in the vehicle.

Sgt. Cristy Hambin said officers lost track of the SUV as it exited the mobile home court, but found several garbage cans and a no parking sign that it had struck. She said a mobile home was also damaged, but the owners were not home to confirm that the damage was due to the fleeing vehicle.

Officers later found the vehicle in the 2700 block of Dennis Drive NW, but the driver and passenger were gone. Footprints in the snow led officers to one of the mobile homes near the damage.

Hamblin said Collins and the passenger from the vehicle were inside the mobile home arguing about Collins' decision to run from police when officers arrived. The passenger was not charged.

Collins twice refused a breath test and was taken to the Linn County Jail, police said. He was not on the inmate roster by Tuesday afternoon.