FARGO -- A man has been sentenced to 19 days in jail by a municipal court judge for driving a Zamboni while drunk during a high school hockey game on New Year's Eve.
Steven James Anderson faced a Class B misdemeanor driving under the influence charge after witnesses reported Anderson was driving the Zamboni erratically during a Fargo Davies girls hockey game against Williston at South Sports Arena.
Defense attorney Lindsey Haugen said Anderson wasn't guilty because neither North Dakota state law nor Fargo city ordinance defines a Zamboni as a vehicle.
The law goes into some detail about trucks, bicycles, snowmobiles and various other conveyances and whether they'd be considered a vehicle, but it excludes Zambonis, Haugen said after court.
Witnesses who took the stand included WDAY-TV anchor Dana Mogck, who attended the game against Williston.
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Mogck and another witness, Troy Cody, told the court they noticed Anderson, who was employed by the Fargo Park District, weaving the Zamboni before crashing it hard into the boards several times.
Mogck told reporters he saw Anderson holler from behind the controls of the Zamboni for the sound operator at the game to "crank it up" during an AC/DC song.
Cody called police, who testified that Anderson told them he'd been celebrating at a friend's birthday party about four hours before the hockey game started.
A police test showed Anderson had a 0.314 percent blood-alcohol content.
Municipal Court Judge Stephen Dawson found Anderson guilty.
In addition to being sentenced to nine days in jail, Anderson must stay on a 24/7 alcohol monitoring program until next March.
"Not in a million years did Steven think what he was doing was a crime," Haugen said after court. He said Anderson rode a bicycle to the game that night and planned to take a taxi home.
"He's terribly embarrassed. He's a nice kid," Haugen said.
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Anderson told the court he was going through some difficult personal issues at the time of the Zamboni incident, and made changes in his life, including adopting the 24/7 alcohol monitoring system four months before Tuesday's hearing.
"It was a tough end of the year, start of the year," Anderson told the judge. "I hope never to see you again."
