An Anchorage man seen erratically driving a front-end loader that he took from his workplace Tuesday was charged with driving under the influence, police said.
Daniel L. Hughett, 35, was in custody Wednesday at the Anchorage jail, online records show.
Three people called police separately to report that someone was driving the front-end loader erratically in East Anchorage.
At 7:05 p.m., police got a call that a person driving a front-end loader had pulled into the Chevron gas station near Boniface Parkway and Northern Lights Boulevard and nearly hit the building, police said in a written statement.
The caller told police that the driver, later identified as Hughett, went inside the gas station "displaying signs of intoxication," bought something and then drove off again.
A second caller told police that the loader was in the area of Northern Lights and Baxter Drive, had hit a curb and was swerving in and out of the lanes.
Officers responded to find the loader unoccupied and parked in the middle of Northern Lights at Patterson Street.
A third caller to police said Hughett left the loader and walked into a nearby neighborhood. The caller followed Hughett in a vehicle.
At 7:18 p.m., officers found Hughett walking at Patterson and Chandalar Drive, police said.
Hughett was arrested after field sobriety tests were administered. Officers felt his performance offered enough evidence to support an arrest, said police spokeswoman Renee Oistad.
Hughett then refused to submit a breath test when he was booked into the Anchorage jail, police said.
Hughett was charged with operating under the influence, refusal to submit to a breath test and violating conditions of release; conditions from a prior criminal conviction forbade him from drinking, police said. His first court appearance was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, online records show.
The front-end loader was recovered by Hughett's co-workers and returned to where it belonged, Oistad said.