ROSWELL, Ga. — A Roswell father is facing charges he drove drunk with his kids in the car and crashed through a fence.
An uprooted fire hydrant, battered bushes and a knocked down fence are still visible on Houze Way where police say the crash happened Friday night.
"We were called out to the scene because we had several witnesses call us to report an accident with possible injuries,” said Officer Lisa Holland with Roswell police.
Police say Joel Kurtz was behind the wheel.
"The driver was starting to talk to the officer. He was acting unsteady, swaying, the officer assumed that he had consumed some alcohol,’ Holland said.
Holland says Kurtz admitted he'd had a few drinks before getting behind the wheel.
“His two children were in the back seat of the car. We had a complaint of an injury to them,” Holland said.
She says emergency crews checked out the kids at the scene then handed them over to their mother.
Police charged Kurtz with DUI and two counts of child endangerment, and took him to jail.
“If you had any amount to drink and you had your kids with you, you just have to make the right decision. Call a friend, a neighbor, a taxi. There are so many alternatives out there now,” Holland said.
Holland says arrests like this one are becoming all too common.
"You're placing your kids' lives in jeopardy by taking them with you when you're under the influence of alcohol,” she said. "There's no reason to put a child at risk in the back of your car.”
The woman who owns the property where the crash happened told Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik that she thinks Kurtz will pay her back for the damage to the fence and shrubs.
Petchenik tried to get Kurtz's side of the story. He went to his house, but a woman who answered the door took his card and has not called.
WSBTV
