Dad says he had 12 Twisted Teas before passing out with kid in the car, Iowa cops say

A dad told police he drank 12 Twisted Tea alcoholic beverages at a friend’s house before driving with his 4-year-old daughter, according to police in Iowa.

When the 32-year-old man got to a traffic signal in Des Moines, police say he passed out.

Officers were called to the stoplight at about 10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14 — and it took them “several minutes to wake him up,” according to a Des Moines police report. The Jeep Liberty SUV was in drive, and the keys were in the ignition.

The 4-year-old girl was unbuckled and not in a child-safety seat, police said.

After getting the father to wake up, police say he had “blood shot watery eyes, slurred speech and smelled strongly of a beverage containing alcohol.”

The man admitted to drinking 12 hard iced tea drinks, and he said he was a “five” on an intoxication scale of one to 10, according to the report. He said “he could feel the effects of the alcohol.”

He also refused a field sobriety test and a breath test, police said. He was described as unsteady and “hard to understand,” and after asking to call his ex-wife, police say he didn’t know what to say so he asked for help hanging up on her.

The dad was charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, child endangerment (substantial risk) and failure to use child restraint devices.

Authorities say he was his daughter’s “primary caretaker” at the time of the incident.