Public Safety arrested Jeffery King, 41, for driving under the influence April 6 while making deliveries for Marvin's restaurant. An officer observed King driving erratically and pulled him over on Anderson Street after King driving through a stop sign. King failed two of three field sobriety tests and had a blood alcohol content of 0.18 percent, according to the police report. The legal limit is 0.08. He is still in Putnam County Jail.
King, who was fired from Marvin's following his arrest, had worked as a delivery man at the restaurant for less than a year. He was in the process of delivering an order to Beta Theta Pi fraternity when Public Safety stopped him after he dropped the bag of food when he exited his car. When King went to retrieve the bag, he appeared unsteady on his feet, the report said.
Word of King's arrest cropped up on Facebook Wednesday, garnering reactions like "this arrest is a long time comin'" and comments about previous encounters with an intoxicated King during his deliveries.
"What's most concerning is that people didn't feel the need to report a drunk driver on campus," said Angie Nally, director of Public Safety. "I don't know what the loyalty to the Marvin's driver is that you wouldn't want to protect yourself or others."
King faces charges of driving while intoxicated and having an open container, as the Public Safety officer found an open 24-ounce can of Tilt — a malt beverage with 12 percent alcohol by volume — in King's van.
In 2009, a Public Safety officer arrested King for driving while intoxicated on DePauw's campus, and because of his previous conviction, King's current charges are felonies. First-time DWIs are Class A misdemeanors.
Kevin Sullivan, the owner of Marvin's, knew King had an alcohol problem for which he took three weeks off of work last month to seek treatment. Two weeks ago, King came back to work.
"We at Marvin's thought he had this under control," Sullivan said. "When I talked to him about it, and I talked to him about it every week, and he had given me his word that he was continuing his sobriety through his counseling."
Marvin's does not run background checks on their drivers and only requires a valid driver's license and insurance. Sullivan didn't know of King's previous DWI.
Sullivan said he was sad to hear the news about King at first, since he was disappointed to hear King had "reverted back to this behavior." Sullivan said this has made him think about conducting background checks for his drivers to avoid something like this in the future.
"I felt deceived. I felt like he had put me and my business in a bad situation," Sullivan said. "I feel like he had let me down."